Anand Express: A journey of friendship, love and grief

What does a group of friends do when one of them dies? They steal his ashes and run off to fulfill his wish.
Playing upon the time-tested idea of young adventurous friendships, a new play "Anand Express" was screened here at Kamani Auditorium as part of the third Aadyam theatre festival by Aditya Birla Group.
An adaptation of Richard Gray's novel "Ostrich Boys", the play opens with three friends-- Wasim (Chaitnya Sharma), Kenny (Siddharth Kumar) and Neeraj (Vivaan Shah)-- retrospecting their friend Anand's (Sukant Goel) funeral, which was attended by people who made his life miserable.
To bid their deceased friend a deserving adieu, the trio decides to embark on a journey from Maharashtra to Anand in Gujarat after stealing their friend's ashes to fulfil his wish of being "Anand in Anand".

Directed by Nadir Khan and produced by Rage Productions, the play paints a fresh and optimistic picture of friendship, loyalty, by making use of situational comedy against the grey backdrop of bereavement.
"Being young is an indefinite passage of time. But it's mostly a state of mind: every sense, implication, impression, sensation and emotion jacked up to twelve.

"Your friends are the best, your love is the purest, your breakups are the worst, your parents are old and no one understands what you are going through. Except for your best friends," says the director.
First adapted by playwright Carl Miller, the play's Indian version has been adapted by screenwriter and theatre artist Akarsh Khurana.

Divided into seven scenes, the play takes the three friends from the overwhelming state of mourning to stealing the ashes, escaping in a series of train rides, flirting with girls on the train, spending a night in a haunted ruin, and finally evading the parents and police.
Interspersed with scenes evoking guffaws, the show takes serious turn when the trio realises their respective roles in making their dead friend's life miserable.
While dwelling upon Anand's death and trying to find a reason for his grief, Neeraj exclaims "maybe all you (Anand) wanted was to hurt everyone".
"Maybe we all were pretending, like ostriches with our heads underground, that we knew you the best. But what about the people you hurt? Your family, the people around you, us? Did you do all this to hurt everyone?" asks a grief stricken Neeraj holding the urn full of ashes.

Fleetingly touching upon the issue of depression and suicide, "Anand Express" is a story about the "exhuberance of youth, loss, hope and the meaning of friendship".