A progressive husband confronts his own hypocrisy in ‘Besharam Aadmi’

Pune: What happens when a man who considers himself progressive suddenly hesitates to hang his wife's undergarments out to dry in front of his parents? That awkward moment of hesitation lies at the heart of "Besharam Aadmi", a one-man play written and directed by Vijay Sharma and performed by Amol Parashar. The show will be staged in Pune at 7pm on Saturday at the Shreeram Lagoo Rang-avkash auditorium in Hirabaug Chowk, marking its return to the city as the production resumes its run this year after 24 shows in 2025. Sharma said the idea emerged from a deeply personal moment that made him question his own conditioning. "It's a normal thing when men are living with women, be it as a couple or as flatmates, to handle each other's laundry. It was nothing out of the ordinary for me to put out to dry or fold my wife's and my clothes. But, when my parents came over, I realised there was a moment of hesitation in doing something as simple as putting out the laundry, including my wife's undergarments. That discomfort became something I wanted to explore, talk and write about," said Sharma. "The play makes you ask why such a simple act suddenly feels uncomfortable." He added: "This is something many people experience but rarely talk about. And when something is common but not spoken about, that's exactly when it needs to be explored."Rather than turning the story into an ensemble drama, Sharma chose to write it as a solo comedy performance so the character's internal conflict could unfold directly before the audience in a way that is easily digestible. "The script focuses on the man's mental chatter. By letting him narrate his doubts and questions in the first person, the audience can empathise with him while also seeing the impact of those thoughts," said Sharma. The play uses humour to disarm audiences when dealing with an uncomfortable topic like persistent casual sexism in Indian households. "Audiences in different cities react differently, according to the culture there. But, every time, we see audiences elbowing each other at first, followed by smirking and then growing into roaring laughter," said Sharma. The title, he added, reflects the play's central idea. "'Besharam' [shameless] is just a label. We often give labels to people to limit them. But if something is pushing us toward a greater good or helping us grow, maybe it's okay to be a little ‘besharam'."The weight of the performance is carried by actor Amol Parashar, who believes the script gave him the skeleton of the character, but after doing it over 20 times, the flesh and blood inevitably started coming from himself. "I think a lot of me has slipped in quietly – my rhythm, my sense of humour and the way I process silences. The character becomes a sort of exaggerated version of yourself. Over time, I've realised the most honest moments in the show are usually the ones where I'm not trying to act at all, I'm just reacting truthfully within the situation," said Parashar. The audience also becomes a passive character. "Every night, the energy in the room is slightly different. Some audiences laugh earlier, some sit in silence longer, some surprise you with where they react. That constantly shifts the rhythm of the performance," said Parashar. "Certain pauses change, certain lines land differently, and sometimes the audience reveals something about the character that even the script didn't fully articulate."