Dr. Philip Kotler is the ‘ Wren and Martin ‘ of Marketing. He is an octogenerian now. His 14th edition of the most authoritative text book named Marketing Management is one of his accomplishments. He is the product of Chicago University and MIT. He was taught economics by three Nobel Laureates  — Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow. He did a year’s post-doctoral work at Harvard in Mathematics. He did behavioural science work at University of Chicago. Currently, he is the professor of  International Marketing at Kellog B-school.

A very talented director who gave us plays such as Ajab Nyay Vartulacha, Hayvadan, Vada Chirebandi, Purush, Barrister, Hamidabaichi Kothi, Nagmandal  and Sandhyachhhaya. She has operated on both the parallel and professional stage.

Her father was the secretary to Anie Beasant of the Theosophical Society. She lost her father when she was six. They stayed at Bhivandi. Her uncle was varkari. She was reared by the family of  V.B. Karnick. He was a humanist. She was influenced by Rashtra Seva Dal and Bhausaheb Ranade. She was born in Mumbai.

Post-independence, the cultural rennaisance took roots in India. In her teens, she was influenced by Ganpatrao Bodas, Nanasaheb Phatak, Kestavrao Datey and Mama Pendse.

Al Kazi returned from England. He took a drama workshop at Bhulabhai Memorial Institute, Mumbai. Vijaya Mehta participated in it.

She chose Marathi theatre as per profession. She got the grounding in this from Al Kazi. They formed a Girgaon group. In that group, the members were Tendulkar, Vijaya and Madhav Vatave from theatre. Music was represented by Jitendra Abhisheki, Kishori Amonkar and Shobha Gurtu. Prafulla Dahanukar and Gaitonde represented art. All these people mingled. This led to an institution called Rangayan under the leadership of S.P.Bhagwat. Almost 1000 members each contributing Rs. 10 were enrolled for Rangayan.

Vijaya Mehta has a twelve year itch. She then becomes restless again. After Rangayan, she turned to professional theatre. She came across Peter Brook when he produced Mahabharat. They did Shakuntal together. She turned to tele-films without knowing the shot division. She learnt the ropes soon. She worked as an assistant to Shyam Benegal. She learnt film making and made Raosaheb, Pestonji and Lifeline. She worked as the Director, NCPA. She is optimistic about the future of theatre in India.