Krushnaji Prabhakar Khadilkar (25 November 1872 – 26 August 1948) was a Marathi writer from Bombay Presidency, British IndiaIndia.
The subject of navakal is political, trade and market price Khadilkar in the beginning of his career wrote prose-plays, but achieved "even greater recognition" with plays like Svayamvara – which had songs which were based on Indian classical music.
The notability of his dramatic technique, in his fifteen plays, was to "endow ancient Hindu legends and tales with contemporary political significance".
[1] The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (Devraj To Jyoti), remarks that while Annasaheb Kirloskar "laid the foundation of popular sangit natak", it saw its great rise and gradual decline with the advent of Khadilkar.
In 1923 he resigned because of his support of Gandhi's position in division of nationalist political opinion, under opposition from the promoters who rejected it.
His ideas and literary style so closely matched those of Tilak that the readers of Kesari never knew as to which of the two had written the editorials appearing in the newspaper.
Tilak's trusted lieutenants Vasukaka Joshi and Khadilkar, entered Nepal, "where they set up a tile factory, as a respectale front for an arms and munitions plant designed to supply to the invading Nepalese army."
The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature... states that "Kichaka was cast in the mould of the then Viceroy, Lord Curzon, and some of his aggressively arrogant utterances (like, 'the rulers are rulers and the slaves are slaves') found direct echoes in the words of Kichaka, while the popular mood of resentment and revolt was vehemently expressed by the fiery speeches of Draupadi and Bhima"[9] Bhatia considers that the playwright contrasts the aggression and hatred of the government for its colonial subjects with the resistance of those who attempt rescue the nation from colonial evils.
[11] Ignatius Valentine Chirol's 1910 book Indian Unrest describes the play's plot and explains the allegories.
Chirol suggests that any Englishman who saw the play would remember vividly the tense scowling face of the men as they watch the outrages of Kichak and tearful eyes of the ladies as they watch "Draupadi's entreaties", "their scorn for Yudhishthira's tameness, their admiration of Bhima's passionate protests, and the deep hum of satisfaction which approves the slaughter of the tyrant.
[13] These articles written on 18 January 1910, not only hastened the passage of the India Press Act of 1910 but also called for Kichak Vadh to be banned.
[citation needed] The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: K to Navalram mentions that "the London Times, in an eloquent outburst against this play, said in effect, Khadilkar is a most dangerous extremist, and Kichak Vadha is a cleverly veiled incitement to murder the European officials.
He notes that Kirloskar was "a genuine poet in whose songs the people find the flow of the soul which as a rule is not characteristic of Khadilkar's compositions"[18] According to Padma Anagol, Girijabai Kelkar wrote Purushanche Band to counteract the "effects of vilification of Indian women in Khadilkar's Striyancha Band".