''Nabanna'' is a

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...

drama written by

Bijon Bhattacharya Bijon Bhattacharya ( bn, বিজন ভট্টাচার্য; 17 July 1906 – 19 January 1978) was an Indian theatre and film actor from West Bengal. He was an eminent playwright and dramatist. Bhattacharya was born in 1906 at Farid ...

and staged by the

Indian People's Theatre Association Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) is the oldest association of theatre-artists in India. IPTA was formed in 1943 during the British rule in India, and promoted themes related to the Indian freedom struggle. Its goal was to bring cultur ...

(IPTA) in 1944 under the direction of Bijon Bhattacharya and Sombhu Mitra and later, in 1948, by Bohurupee under the direction of

Kumar Roy Kumar Roy (1926–2010) was a Bengali theatre actor, director and playwright. In 1983 he won the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. He was associated with the group Bohurupee. In 1989 he directed the re-creation of the classic play ''Nabanna'' (1948) ...

. The play is about the Bengal famine of 1943. The Bengal IPTA took the play to many parts of India as a part of its festival, Voice of Bengal, and it became a major success and collected

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

s of rupees for famine relief in rural Bengal.

Plot

The drama is about the Bengal famine of 1943 in which more than 2 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease. The main character is Pradhan Samaddar, a peasant in Bengal. The play presents the intensity of famine through the starvation of Pradhan Samaddar's family. Samaddar's family face a range of disasters during the food crisis.

References

{{Famine in India Bengali-language plays Bengali theatre 1944 plays Indian plays Plays set in India