Beyond the Curtain: Unmasking Elite Indifference and Urging Social Change in Badal Sircar’s Plays

Abstract

Badal Sircar remains one of the most influential figures in modern Indian theatre, renowned for his commitment to social critique and theatrical innovation. This paper examines Sircar’s sustained engagement with issues of middle-class complacency, social inequality, and ethical responsibility through a close reading of three significant plays: Bhoma, Basi Khabar (Stale News), and Baki Itihas (That Other History). The study explores how Sircar exposes the indifference of the urban middle class towards the suffering of marginalized communities and challenges dominant narratives of development, history, and social progress. Through fragmented dialogues, alternative historiography, and the principles of Third Theatre, Sircar creates a dramatic space that questions bourgeois morality and encourages critical self-reflection. The paper further examines the playwright’s rejection of passive audience reception and his endeavour to transform theatre into a powerful medium for cultivating social awareness, critical consciousness, and collective action. By foregrounding the experiences of subaltern groups and interrogating structures of power, Sircar constructs a counter-discourse that urges audiences to confront their social responsibilities. The study argues that Sircar’s theatre transcends aesthetic experimentation and functions as a powerful instrument of social change, making his dramatic vision highly relevant in contemporary discussions of inequality, exclusion, and civic engagement.