Heena Khandelwal watches the award-winning play, Item, which is a gritty take on the smutty world of B-grade cinema

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The objectification of women in the film industry is not new and neither are B-Grade films. And commenting on the subject is the latest play called Item, by Kshitish Date, a 24-year-old Pune-based theatre director. Item won the Best Play award at the just-concluded 13th Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) jointly with another play, Nona.

Written by Siddhesh Purkar, the script was gripping enough to hold the audience's attention throughout its 100-minute duration. Events in the play are seen through the lens of L Rakesh, originally a lightman who later becomes assistant to B-Grade superstar Sapna Shetty. The play begins with the entry of a young, shy girl – Shetty – who wants to become a star, and ends with her becoming an 'item' in B-Grade films, which are all about sex scenes, with little attention to acting, or sets – so much so that even Rakesh pitches in to write the script and direct when needed. Throughout the play, Rakesh exposes the industry and its functionings, especially how women in B-grade films are often reduced to their bodies.

"There was not a single character who could discern what's right and wrong. They stated the obvious but without saying it in so many words," says Date, who found it challenging to bring out the message without it being spoken.

The two lead actors – Sainath Ganuwad as L Rakesh and Deepti Kachare as Sapna Shetty – are very convincing. While the former narrates the story that involves heartbreaks, compromises in front of and behind the camera, and controversies, without batting an eyelid, the latter gives a believable performance as the girl who is always adjusting her clothes in the beginning to later become so brazen as to give directions for the sex scenes.

Twenty-seven-year-old Ganuwad, who won the META award for best actor in a lead role, says, "In order to understand Rakesh's, I had to watch several B-grade movies. We even did exercises where we would write a storyline from the title – for instance, Driving Chachi would be about this woman who runs a driving school and has affairs with men in the school."

The play's cast has other actors who don't have a single line to speak, but contribute significantly with their body language and gaze. Another notable element is the stage design. Lights, wires, chairs, and trolleys covered most of the stage and in the centre was a well-polished bed with a clean sheet. As the assistant said, there would be a bed scene in the film after every 10 minutes.

"To understand the production aesthetics of a B-grade film, we went to production houses where such films are shot. Usually, there are wings at the entry and exit, but we used curtains to give it a studio feeling," explains set designer Ravi Chaudhary. It wasn't easy to perform with so much technical equipment lying about. "We spent two days doing the technical rehearsal," informs Date.

Equally powerful was the climax that has Rakesh's own daughter entering the B-grade film scene. Shetty's voice can be heard directing the cameraman on how the girl's back, legs and body should be shot. And so the show goes on.

MORE ABOUT META

Instituted by The Mahindra Group of companies, Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) invites entries from plays across the country, a selection of which is staged at the annual festival in Delhi. The shortlisted plays then compete for awards in categories such as script, set, costume and light design, direction and acting. The 13th edition of the festival, held last month, saw 10 plays staged over five days, including a mix of regional plays in Assamese, Manipuri, Malayalam, Bengali and Kannada besides a few in Hindi and English.