Vhay! I Am Savitribai Phule: Nandita Patkar's Solo Performance Tours Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad
"Jaante vha, shikte vha, sanghatit vha." Be aware, be educated, be organised.
The words are Savitribai Phule's, and they sit at the top of the poster for Vhay! I Am Savitribai Phule, a solo performance by Nandita Patkar that is now touring Mumbai, Pune and Ahmedabad.
The woman at the centre
In 1848, Savitribai Phule and her husband, Jyotirao Phule, opened a school for girls in Pune. She became one of the first women teachers in modern India and spent her life working against caste and gender discrimination, often in the face of open hostility. She was also a poet.
The play, presented by Anjor Production, frames her as "a pioneer", in "her words, her courage, her legacy", and has Savitribai address the audience directly, connecting her history to the present.
The people who made it
Artist: Nandita Patkar
Writer and director: Sushama Deshpande
Playscript: Manjiri Bhuskute
English translation: Shanta Gokhale
Sushama Deshpande's name carries real weight here. Her Marathi solo work on Savitribai has long been regarded as a landmark of Indian feminist theatre, and Shanta Gokhale is among the most respected theatre writers and translators the country has.
Upcoming shows
22 November 2026: NGMA, Fort, Mumbai, 7:30pm
8 December 2026: Rangshila Theatre Festival, Versova, Andheri
11 December 2026: Shreeram Lagoo Rang-Avakash (SLR), Pune
19 December 2026: Scrapyard, Ahmedabad
20 December 2026: Prayogshala, Ahmedabad
The tour opened at INT Aditya Birla, Mumbai, on 31 October.
Why go
Solo plays live or die on the performer, and a solo play about a historical reformer carries the added risk of turning into a lecture. The direct address in this production is the answer to that risk: the audience is not watching history, it is being spoken to by it.
The NGMA date makes for a fine evening in Fort. If you are in the area for other cultural plans, our Prithvi Theatre Festival guide covers the rest of November's theatre calendar.
Frequently asked questions
Who performs Vhay! I Am Savitribai Phule?
It is a solo performance by Nandita Patkar.
Who wrote and directed the play?
Sushama Deshpande wrote and directed it. The playscript is by Manjiri Bhuskute and the English translation by Shanta Gokhale.
When is the next Mumbai show?
22 November 2026 at NGMA, Fort, Mumbai, at 7:30pm.
Where else is it touring?
Rangshila Theatre Festival, Versova, Andheri (8 December); Shreeram Lagoo Rang-Avakash, Pune (11 December); Scrapyard, Ahmedabad (19 December); and Prayogshala, Ahmedabad (20 December).
Kenneth Hopkins is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AltBollywood. Indofuturist, posthumanist and unapologetically Indocentric, he describes himself as an epimemeticist, a swaraji, a freakonomist, a lexicographer and a cartochronicler, mapping the ideas, words and quiet shifts that shape Indian entertainment. Follow him on Instagram at @kennethhopkins.
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