Watching the play ‘Five point someone’ staged at Chowdiah Memorial Hall created emotions similar to that of watching a Harry Potter movie. No, it isn’t about magic, but when you see an audience of hundreds of people thouroughly enjoying themselves watching a story that clearly, every one of them has read, it feels great that a book managed to create so much interest, in what is being considered the electronic era.
The story still clearly remains the same- three guys, Hari, Ryan and Alok in IIT and their escapades. The script writer has made it a point to remain true to the story, and in that she has achieved a great adaptation and the love of the audience. With no lavish sets and extravagant costumes, the strength of the play lay in performance and of course a strong script.
As far as the story went, for someone who hasn’t read the book perhaps it may have gaps and may not seem like the journey through four years, but the play tries its best, with devices like the introspective monologues and the narrator (an older Hari) to keep the non-readers in the loop. For those who like the book, if you weren’t there, you missed something because even though you may not have thought the play deserved an award, you would have certainly warmed to the familiar characters at the end of the play. The story is simple and strong, therefore emphasis on how the characters look was never an issue, however the cast was also chosen carefully and especially in the case of Alok, one must admit, it seemed like he had jumped right out of the book!
The proffesors played by PC Ramakrishna (Prof Cherian), Shankar Sundaram (Prof Dubey), TT Srinath (Dean Shastri) and Anshumani Rudra (Prof Veera) almost stole the show from the boys, with their strong performances which were good enough to pass them off as actual IIT professors. Vidyuth as the narrator was expressive and clear, helping the audience through the story. Hari (Abhijit Mohanty), Ryan (Praveen Bharadwaj) and Alok (Sarvesh Sridhar), though initially a bit stiff, fifteen minutes into the play, started soaking into the world of ‘five point someone’. The boys did come up with very neat performances, with their infectious grins, innocent looks and drunk voices, they managed to keep the audience in splits.
Of course, most of the audience had already read the book, as some of them were whispering the lines or laughing even before a punch line. The only hitch was perhaps the lack of an interval in the long play.
That apart, all in all, it was a good adaptation. And as Chetan Bhagat joined the cast and scriptwriter/director Nikhila on stage and the audience cheered, it felt great to see what felt like, the return of literature.