A group of artistes performs a street play at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, March 24: Visitors to the Bihar Divas celebrations today rushed to catch a glimpse of a scene where inspector Matadin Chand was interrogating Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, under the blazing midday sun.

Around 200 people watched the interrogation, which was a part of the street play Inspector Matadin Chand Par, written by Harishankar Prasad and performed by the group Manch Naubatopur. The performance was a part of the street play festival, organised by the state human resource development (HRD) department at Noor Fatima Rangbhoomi in Gandhi Maidan. Other groups like Patna IPTA and Kala Jagaran also performed theatre that pulled the crowds away from the stalls.

Rajiv Ranjan, the director, said: “Inspector Matadin symbolises greedy characters like some men in uniform. He can justify all his wrongs. Innocent people fall easy prey to him. He forces the other three characters — Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi — to speak in favour of the crime so that he can close the case and get appreciation for his efforts.

“The play is a critique of the corruption and the helplessness of the common man in our contemporary society,” added Ranjan.

On being asked why the names of the three actors of Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots had been given to the characters in the play, Ranjan said: “It is all a part of the punches of the street play. Unlike a stage play, there are no sets and hardly any props. The performance depends on evoking interest in the audience. Names like these obviously attract the audience. “Punchlines are very important for plays like this. They make the audience laugh. But they also convey a messages,” added Ranjan.

For instance, in a scene, Inspector Matadin interrogates an innocent man who had tried to save another man who met with an accident. Matadin asks why the man rushed to save the victim and no one else, and what he was doing at the site of the accident in the first place. The man replies his house was near the spot. Matadin concludes that the man is from a family of killers, who have taken a house near the accident-prone zone.

Haubins Kumar, who brought the character of Inspector Matadin to life, even walked around like Salman Khan in Dabangg. Haubins said: “We hail from a very small village and our group has strived hard to survive. The HRD department has done a great job by inviting us to perform.”