Actors perform in a street play at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 15: A group of 20 artists from Bhikhari Thakur School of Drama performed a nukkad natak (thematic street play) at Gandhi Maidan today on the impact of globalisation and privatisation on the cultural ethos and values.

The play stated with the theme of Mitti hai mitti, hum sona upjaate, heera upjaate, gehu or chawal upjaate, bolo re bolo, hum bhukhe kui reh jaate.

School director Harivansh said: “The play portrays how large-scale starvation still prevails in our country though India is an agricultural country. The government takes no concrete measures. People are running behind money and farmers are committing suicide.”

Another nukkad natak was performed on the theme of Daulat se jab likkhi jayegi kranti ki paribhasha (When definition of revolution will be based on money), Harivansh said: “Everybody is running after money and time and again, scams break out across the country, power has been centralised in the hands of a few and money-lenders are ruling the nation. This has virtually affected social, political, economical and cultural scenario across India. Democratic values have almost disappeared from the minds of our politicians and there is a urgent need of rejuvenation.”

Bhikhari Thakur School of Drama co-ordinator Rajes Kumar said: “Ideology has been vacuumed and no norms are being followed. Radical political parties have destroyed the very essence of ideology.”

On the effectiveness of nukkad natak, he said: “In nukkad natak, we raise the questions and also give the answers, we act like the voice of the common man because they can’t raise the question in fear of the society but we can do that through this. Man is the greatest creation of god. A man’s soul is what defines his face and its expressions. For bringing utmost perfection in acting, the artist looks deep into the soul and the face will reflect the true emotions. So it becomes important for us to deliver the message in the right way so the people can understand it easily.”

Manttu Kumar Thakur, an artiste, said: “We perform in different parts of the state like Muzaffarpur, Chhapra, Gaya and Ara. We also go outside the state like Balia, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Allahabad. I admit that the popularity of nukkad natak has dipped over the years but we still want to rejuvenate it and that is why we continue this act so that the future generations can learn something from this.”