THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The scene is an interview session happening in a corporate office between an irksome boss and a young and energetic man. The candidate possesses good academic and professional credentials. Totally unexpected, the boss raises a series of absurd, out-of-the-context questions.
Akarsh Khurana’s ‘The Interview’ is a witty take on the ambiance inside a corporate house and the mannerisms of its employees.
The play presents lot many hilarious moments before the audience. The ludicrous way the questions are asked by the employer, the spontaneity with which the interviewee responds, the gestures of the characters, all seem quite funny. For instance, when the young man is asked for his favourite number, he gives a four digit number ‘4382’ as the reply. As another question, he is asked which animal he compares himself to. He answers ‘tiger’ but changes to ‘panda’, when the questioner irritates him for answering ‘tiger’ in the beginning.
The entry of the boss’s aide presents another hilarious situation. He takes up the charge of interviewing the candidate as the boss leaves the office for a while. He is another eccentric fellow, whose knee-jerk reactions make the young man sitting before him shiver, at the same time, it makes the audience burst into laughter.
Meanwhile, we see another young man, who is also a job seeker waiting outside the cabin. The boss’s aide who desperately walks outside happens to see him. After casually talking to him and looking at his resume for a while, he immediately shreds it into pieces.
As the play nears the end, the audience witness a dramatic turn of events, where the candidate begins interviewing the boss and the boss is found to be visibly shaken by the questions.
Troublesome bosses who never admit any talented young personnel, the plight of young job-seekers and the loose morals in the corporate world have been well-narrated in the play in a satirical manner.
On the whole, the play has nothing exaggerated or out-of-the-ordinary. From the beginning, it follows a certain fashion that captivates the audience till the end.