Unusual choice

Ramanujan, written and directed by Rajib Bardhan and produced by Jadavpur Manthan, pivots around the life and the achievements of Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyengar, the celebrated mathematician. The choice of subject is intriguing given the fact that much of Ramanujan’s work — path-breaking interventions in the rarefied realms of higher mathematics — would come across as esoteric and incomprehensible to the average viewer. Bardhan has prudently allowed mathematics to remain only a portion of Ramanujan with the dynamics of interpersonal relationships forming the bulk of the text. Thus, the play foregrounds Ramanujan the man and the people who shaped his unfortunately brief life.

Which brings in the figure of Ramanujan’s mother, Kamallatammal, the person who, arguably, exerted the maximum influence on Ramanujan. Monalisa Chatterjee, in one of her best roles till date, brings Kamallatammal breathtakingly alive on stage, chiefly projecting her character’s fierce, domineering aspect and, yet, remaining mindful of squeezing out the nuances and the layers of the complexities. It is Chatterjee
who sets and fixes the tone and the pace of the action which the other actors then match, some proficiently, others not so much. Debabrata Das (he also designed the costume) as Ramanujan performs decently enough, though his deliveries sound rather monotonous. The same holds true for Sandip Chatterjee (Hardy) and Biswabasu Biswas (Littlewood). One supposes that the tonal repetitiveness results from the director requiring actors to mainly convey information about their respective characters rather than having them inhabit the characters to portray them inside out. Jeesha Paira in her brief appearance as Janaki, Ramanujan’s wife, impresses with her non-verbal acting and her reactions. Aishiki Ghatak as Goddess Namogiri is rivetingly good — though she has no lines, she remains eloquent with her controlled movements and expressions. Some of the actors in minor roles need to be better prepared.

The directorial insistence on repeatedly underscoring the ‘Indianness’ of Ramanujan’s mathematics comes across as an attempt to strike a ‘politically correct’ note in today’s times.