The document analyzes the portrayal of female characters in Mahesh Dattani's play 'Final Solutions,' highlighting the complex roles of women across three generations: Hardika, Aruna, and Smita. Each character embodies different aspects of societal challenges, with Hardika representing the trauma of partition, Aruna exemplifying traditional beliefs, and Smita reflecting a liberal mindset. The play critiques communal tensions and gender biases, illustrating how women navigate their identities amidst societal pressures.

1. Female Characters in ‘Final
Solutions’ by Mahesh Dattani
Nidhi Jethava

2. Prepared by : Nidhi Jethava
Batch : 20-22 MKBU English Department
Paper No. : 202 (IEL-Post-Independence)
Roll Number : 13
Enrollment Number : 3069206420200009
Email Id : jethavanidhi8@gmail.com

3. Mahesh Dattani
• Mahesh Dattani was born on the 7th of
August in 1958 in Bangalore, Karnataka.
• He was educated at Baldwin’s Boys High
School and then went on to graduate from
St. Joseph's College, Bangalore.
• After graduation, he worked for a brief
period as a copywriter for an advertising
firm. In 1986, he wrote his first play,
‘Where There is a Will’.
• Famous works : Final Solution
Dance Like Man
Night Queen
Tara

4. About ‘Final Solutions’
• Play first time performed in 1993
• Dattani’s Final Solutions reflects communal
issues in which hatred and fears are aroused
among individuals and varied, by the help of
the sectarians, from one individual to
another.
• Main event is Rathyatra.
• Story woven around characters like Javed,
Bobby, Smita, Daksha(Hardika).
• Play discuss two story one is Daksha’s story
and another is Javed’s story( communal riots )

5. Women characters in ‘Final Solutions’
Daksha(Hardika) Aruna Gandhi
Smita Gandhi

6. WOMEN IN THE PLAY
• According to SUCHISMITA BHATTACHARYA
Dattani has always given importance to women in his plays. The women in
his plays are sometimes meek, submissive, calm and cool in nature. Whereas
sometimes they are intelligent, brave, courageous and protest when
required. In this particular play Dattani talks about three different women
who represent three different generations. Hardika represents the first
generation, Aruna represents the second generation and Smita represents
the third generation. Hardika, is also known as Daksha in the play, who has
seen the partition of India and the communal tension as well. Hardika even
talks about her father’s dream of an independent India. Hardika is such a
woman who did love the Muslims until they killed her father in a communal
riot.

7. Hardika/Daksha
• Hardika is the mother of Ramnik
• She is also known as Daksha in
the play when the play revolves
around the past. Daksha writes
down everything in her diary
because diary is her best friend.
• She has also one Muslim friend
Zarine.
• She love to listen Noor Jahan
and Shamshad Begum.

8. According to Afshana Yousuf
• Daksha-Hardika in the play who becomes the victim of male
dominance. She represents a woman who is imprisoned within the
four walls of the house in an independent country like India. She is
newly married bride and is a lover of music. She loves the songs sung
by Noor Jehan, Shamshad Begum and Suraiya. Her dairy shows her
miserable condition as a married woman in a typical Indian society as
she says:
• “All my dreams have been shattered ... I can never be a singer, like
Noor Jahan. Hari’s family is against my singing film songs. His parents
heard me humming a love song to Hari last night. And this morning
they told him to tell me… I am just a young girl who doesn’t matter to
anyone outside her home.”

9. Daksha And Sakina
• We can find similarities between
Sakina and Daksha.
• Both are beaten by family.
• Characters very silently discuss
old communal issues
• Daksha suppressed by family and
Sakina too.

10. Mr. Dhiren Parmar in his article written
• “Hardika still has resentment against Muslims due to the events that
had happened in her life following the partition and thus she protests
against Bobby and Javed‟s presence in her home. Through the
character of Daksha the audience is slowly able to know the two
factors that are the source of Hardika‟s animosity. The first was the
murder of her father in hometown, Hussainabad, which became a
part of Paksitan during the partition. The second reason was that the
physical and mental abuse she had to endure when her husband Hari
and her in laws found out about her friendship with her Muslim
neighbour, Zarine. Her son Ramnik is a secular Hindu and much more
hospitable to the boy. But Ramnik‟s kindness is partly driven by the
guilt he feels over running the business his father established by
cheating Zarine‟s family after partition. “

11. Aruna Gandhi
• Aruna, wife of Ramnik Gandhi, is
a typical Indian house wife who
is a Godfearing person as well.
• She has spent her whole life in
pooja path and she doesn’t like
to compromise with anything
that is related to her God.

12. Continue
• Aruna is typical Gujarati woman.
• Blindly trust on God
• She forced her daughter to do same thing.
• Not so much open minded.
• She believe in untouchability.
• She deny Javed and Bobby to touch the water for Pooja.

13. Smita Gandhi
• Smita is a girl who believes in liberal ideology.
She does help her mom in her pooja work
because she loves her mom but she doesn’t
personally support all the things from heart.
Rather at one point of time she gets tired of
her mother’s prejudices and conveys her
feelings to her mother.
• “Please, mummy, don’t try so hard! You are breaking me.
Ever since I was small, you have been at me to go to the
temple, make garlands, listen to you reading from the
Gita. I love you, mummy, that’s why I did that. I listened
to u and I obeyed you. I tolerated your prejudices only
because you are my mother. Maybe I should have told
you earlier, but I’m telling you now, I can’t bear it! Please
don’t burden me anymore! I can’t take it! (CP, 213)”

14. According to Dr. Pankaj Kumari
• In Final Solutions, Dattani tries to investigate that the reactions to
communal prejudices are closely associated with gender difference.
Women like Hardika, Smita and Aruna even in their feminine grace and
silence can better retaliate to their oppressors. It shows women can think
beyond their physical conscience on the matter like communal violence.
Aruna and Hardika are no longer interested in their sympathies, Smita too
subsequently develops suspicion and resentment for Javed and Bobby.
Through the anger of these three women, Dattani suggests that at mental
level women are more closely related to communal and religious identities
and have a deeper realization of the humiliations done in the name of
religious fanaticism. The anger of these three women is an example of
independent thinking. The history of horrors of partition that implies the
loss of family and personal relationships have deep impressions on the
mind and sensibility of women.

15. Comparison between Young Daksha and
Smita
• Daksha as a young girl has liberal
mind.
• Not So much educated but she
know writing.
• She has Muslim friend named
Zarine.
• She love to listen song and singing
song.
• She has no communal bias
• Beaten by in-laws.
• Young Daksha has no any
communal bias.
• Young and modern girl.
• She is more like young Daksha.
• Liberal minded.
• She has affection toward Bobby.
• She is college student.
• She has no gender and communal
bias.
• At the end of play we can see a
very mature Smita.
• She has also muslim friend named
Tasmin.

16. Citation
• Bhattacharya, Suchismita. "Communal Tension and Gender Bias In Mahesh Dattani's
Play Final Solution." International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics (2018): 10.
• Dattani, Mahesh. Final Solution . 2009.
• Gadar- Ek Prem Katha. Dir. Anil Sharma. Perf. Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel. 2001.
• Kumari, Dr. Pankaj. "Post-Feminist Analysis of Female Character in Mahesh Dattani's
Final Solution ." 2016.
• Parmar, Mr. Dhiren. "Mahesh Dattani's Final Solution : an Analytical Study ."
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention (2019): 6.
• Yousulf, Afshana. "A Study of Feminist Consciousness in Mahesh Dattani's Final
Solution and Tara." JETIR January 2019: 4.