Hyderabad| Jhansi gears up for RangaYatra

Jhansi Lakshmi presents thought-provoking plays on gender issues, Tit For Tat and Purusha Suktam, at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad.

On January 12, actor Jhansi Laxmi will be presenting the plays Tit For Tat and Purusha Suktam as part of RangaYatra, in collaboration with Sangamam Theatre Festival, at Ravindra Bharathi, Hyderabad. The plays written and directed by Jhansi aim to make the audiences think and debate on gender equations. RangaYatra will travel to different cities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, including educational institutions where staging of the plays will be followed by a discussion. 

“I look at theatre as a forum for social debate,” says Jhansi. “Censorship, money and other market factors govern cinema, which has primarily become a medium of entertainment. I intend to use theatre to break the silence on certain gender issues.”

Tit for Tat is a social satire with lashings of dark humour. With a cast of 14, the play was first presented in October 2023 to coincide with breast cancer awareness month to a select audience. A few tweaks later, the hour-long play is now ready to be presented to a wider audience. Jhansi describes Tit for Tat as a play through which she has tried to explore the politics around women’s breasts, in an Indian context.

The play that looks at how women are subjected to male gaze, addresses consent among other aspects. One of the characters in the play, Jhansi explains, is a female actor who thinks of her body as an investment; another character is a director who thinks of ways to utilise this investment to generate business in the medium of cinema. 

Other characters include a newcomer to the industry, a buxom woman who puts forth her plight, a petite woman who wonders if she would grow into a certain size that is deemed acceptable, a trans woman, and a trans man who has gone through double mastectomy. Tit for Tat also underlines how the hardline approach of feminism may not provide solutions and urges the audiences to look beyond binaries. Actor Gayatri Gupta plays a key character in the play.

Purusha Suktam, the hour-long play that Jhansi conceived five years ago, will be the second play to be presented as part of RangaYatra. Starring Vamsee Chaganti and Jhansi among others, this contemporary abstract play addresses how ‘learnt masculinity’, developed through social conditioning, is a threat to men. Jhansi says, “Social conditioning has made men think they should not take up certain tasks, sweeping the house for instance. We look at such situations not through a feminist lens but as to how these rules can affect men. We also touch upon mental health issues and men’s rights. Since it is a Telugu play, I am hoping to reach a wider audience.” 

So far, Jhansi has self-funded her theatre ventures. This time, with plans to take the plays to audiences across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, she is on the lookout for sponsors.