The Bhopalites witnessed the changing society through a popcorn seller’s eyes. A solo act play ‘Popcorn’ was staged at Shaheed Bhavan auditorium here on Tuesday.
The play marked the second day of the Habib Theatre Fest, organized in the memory of Habib Tanveer. The play is drietced and written by Ashish Pathak from Jabalpur and was presented by Hum Theatre Troupe, Bhopal.
The actor who is well known for his fabulous performance in movies like Piku and Raazi, Balendra Singh gave yet another applauding performance in Popcorn. Though Balnedra Singh is a theatre person and has directed many plays which have been staged in Madhya Pradesh and other State as well.
One of his well known performances is in Piku. But, with an enchantment and carrying a strong personality, Balendra Singh created magic on stage. The play begins with showcasing a railway station. The set of the play was huge and really beautiful. It looked like a real railway station on stage. Now, here enters the protagonist of the play the ‘popcorn-seller’. The entire play moves around the popcorn seller and the way he has witnessed the different shades of society. He marks questions about the evils prevailing and why are they prevailing either.
The story begins with the popcorn-seller selling popcorns on a railway station. Every day he gives some popcorn to a mentally impaired woman, Tukia. One day, he gets to know that Tukia was raped by a fruit-seller whom he knows very well and wonders where this society is really headed. As he came to know this, he tries to reason why a mentally sound man would rape a mentally ill woman and concludes everyone is living to fulfill their greed not needs.