Sindoor Ki Holi (Vermillion on Fire)

Hindi drama literally came of age with the advent of Babu Harishchandra Earlier it was in a nascent stage immature. inert and lacking in theatrical technique as was the case with other genres in Hindi literature. Lakshman Singh, Pratap Narain Misra, Ambika Datta Vyas, Srinivas Das and Badri Narayan Chaudhary were the contemporary dramatists of the Bharatendu era. They devoted their attention to taking up social, religious and ethical issues and providing entertainment. The main theme of their plays centred around reviving the glorious past of Hinduism, instilling the spirit of chivalry, self-respect and religiosity and shunning the practices of untouchability, non-vegetarianism, alcoholism and prostitution. They gave scant attention to the other problems prevailing in the country Sanskrit, Bangla and English dramas were also translated during this period English plays, especially those of Shakespeare, exercised a great influence during this time In Bhartendu's times, it became the trend for playwrights to imitate Shakespeare's dramaturgy and art besides its emotional and sentimental content. This gained much strength through Dwijendra Lal's drama and the Parsi-theatrical companies though some dramatists also imitated Sanskrit drama Prominent among them were Harishchandra and Sri Jaya Shankar Prasad. In due course, Sanskrit dramaturgy faded out and English dramaturgy gained in strength. The Shakespearean influence was waning in Europe while under the leadership of Bhartendu, in the Hindi world, Shakespeare was being adopted.