For a first, professional play twenty-something Meherzad Patel is promising. His LIKE DAT ONLY! (he has written as well as directed the play) is a kind of coming of age story, full of campus and sitcom humour. In spite of a rather simplistic end and some gimmicky one-liners, the play gains from a certain degree of reflection and sensitivity vis-à-vis issues that concern young people.
You might be inclined to think that the play is a rub off the popular film Rang De Basanti and while indeed there is a reference to the film in the play, it is more in context of being dismissive of the film’s grandiose idealism. Not that the play does not suffer from its own projected idealism but that fortunately does not overwhelm its young characters and the circumstances they are in. Except in the end of course.
A faint whiff of morality hangs over the play as evidenced in its ‘campus lingo’ title. The play is somewhat seeking to drive the point that young people are only concerned about themselves, have limited or no knowledge of how things really function and lack sensitivity to the larger concerns of their country. Yet mercifully this moral position is kept subdued by a more real and engaging interplay of the characters and the events in the play.
The beginning of the play is quite interesting actually and whatver doubts you may have about the dated box set are soon laid to rest. Neville (Danesh Irani) brings home Aftab (Hardik Parikh), a new paying guest. His house is already dominated by his four friends- Rehyan (Jim Vimadalal), Sonali (Aneri Pali), Shyla (Maanvi Gagroo) and Kartik (Sajeel Parakh) and Aftab is therefore not immediately welcome. Moreover he is Muslim, poor and can barely converse in English.
But as Aftab continues to find acceptance, grudging or otherwise, all six friends slowly begin to realize that they need to sit back and introspect their lives. When that happens the conventions of the box-set kind of drama take a backseat and a free-flowing association of thoughts and ideas emerge as each of the young characters take stock of their lives. They agree that they don’t want to do a Rang De Basanti but would rather start with questioning who they are, of what skills and talent they possess and of what they really want to do as against what their parents or a more traditional society expects of them. When indeed Neville and Kartik try ‘changing the system’ they are humbled even as they are disheartened.
The production’s tight pace and structure are fairly impressive. Rehyan (Jim Vimadalal) with his comic timing and quick repartee is the star of the show but he could do with some toning down. Performances by the six main actors are by and large up to the mark and are ably supported by Afshad Kelawala who plays a cranky, old Parsi gent and Mihir Mehra who plays a cop. The characterizations could have been stronger and the play on the whole could have had more depth. For instance Aftab’s character and the tension he brings in are worth exploring further, given our times. But the good thing is that the potential is already there. And that these days is a rare commodity in itself, especially where original playwriting is concerned.
*The writer is Editor of this site, a theatre critic and academic keenly interested in Theatre & Performance Studies.
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