The play “Anand Express” presented by Rage under the auspices of Aadyam Theatre, at Kamani auditorium this past week depicts the strong bond of friendship between young people and the intense sense of loss at the accidental death of one of the friends —Anand. With pain at the irreparable loss, the friends of Anand undertake a hazardous journey to Anand, a place Anand ardently wished to visit. The production is full of vigour, fast movements charged with intensity imbuing feverish sensibility.
“Anand Express” is an Indian adaptation by Akarsh Khurana from “Ostrich Boys” by Carl Miller which in turn is a stage version of Keith Gray’s novel. Akarsh has Indianised the names of the original characters and action is shifted to India. In the original, the dearest friend of a group of youngsters is Ross. In Indian version, he is changed to Anand.
Nadir Khan
After the death of Anand, his friends, all youngsters, are obsessed with the thought that Anand's memory must be perpetuated in a befitting way. They visit Anand's parents, meet his father who is more concerned about his out of order computer. One of the friends see an urn containing the ashes of Anand. In a swift move, he takes hold of the urn, runs fast enough to be away from the reach of his pursuers. In a hurry friends board a train to Baroda. From the very start they have to face one obstacle after the other. In the course of their journey they come across different types of men. Often indulging in hot debate about the circumstances that led to the accidental death of Anand, they talk about hell and heaven and the controversial question about life after death. One of the friends is curious to know whether Anand believed in God or not.
In the course of a journey full of perils, they are haunted with a severed head. During night in the dark they have an apprehension of ghosts. They talk about Anand's funeral. Again and again some members talk about Anand's girl friend. To deepen the mood of fear and uncertainty fraught with fear, we watch images of merciless beating of a young man by a group of young people and also watch with bated breath the fatal accident, killing a youth.
The play is directed by Nadir Khan whose productions have already been watched by the theatregoers of Delhi in the past. He directs with precision. Using aptly expressive means of theatre, he creates the right atmosphere to reinforce the inner fury and anguish of young people trapped in a world in which young lives are destroyed.
The script tends to be sketchy with recurring reference to the past. The dialogues are in English. At places, Hindi dialogue is also spoken. The language is simple, laced with little bit of street language often spoken by young people.
The opening scenes reveal a kind of dark humour. The tone changes into polemical. As the youngsters reach their destination with the urn containing the ashes of Anand, the tone of the production becomes poignant. Sitting on a high platform with Anand's urn of ashes in hands, two friends scatter ashes. This touching scene is indeed the high point of the production.
Set is designed by Fali Unwalla who has created a rectangular structure placed in the centre stage. It is innovative enough to provide the right kind of milieu in which the action is set. Flexibility in changing locales is its hallmark. It can come back to its original form. The considerably raised upper part of the set is used to enact vital scenes to enable the viewers to watch without any obstacle.
Experimental theatre
“Anand Express” appears to be an experimental theatrical piece to reflect the restless youths in pursuit of a cause they consider their duty to accomplish and are haunted by the fear of unknown. The theme is related to a narrow social perspective. So far the productions under the direction of Nadir Khan seen in Delhi are concerned, “Twelve Angry Jurors” is remarkable for excellent acting and design that enables the director to explore the entire space for action and ambience.
Chaitnya Sharma as Wasim, Siddharth Kumar as Kenny, Sukant Goel as Anand, Vivaan Shah as Neeraj are admirably cast who impart youthful exuberance to the production, exuding vitality to reveal the inner turmoil of their characters. At times, they step out briefly of their main characters to play another character.
