13th META Festival ends with awards night

The 13th edition of META Festival came to an end as the best of the year from Indian theatre were awarded across 14 categories here last evening.

For the first time in the history of Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards, two plays, 'Nona' and 'Item', jointly bagged the award for Best Play.

Leading the awards tally, Malayalam play 'Nona' also bagged a total of four awards including Best Director (Jino Joseph), Best Stage Design (Jino Joseph) and Best Light Design (Sajas Rahman and Abid PT).

Joseph had earlier won the META 2015 for Best Director, Best Production and Best Original Script with his play 'Matthi'.

Along with the Best Play award, Hindi play 'Item' by Kshitish Date of Natak Company also won the Best Actor in Lead Role (Male) award for Sainath Ganuwad's brilliant and entertaining portrayal of L. Rakesh, the on-stage narrator of the play.

Manipur production 'Hojang Taret' by The Umbilical Theatre walked away with three awards including Best Sound Design for H. Anilkumar, Best Actor in a Lead Role (Female) for Kh. Sanatombi and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) for Kh. Nganthoileima.

The Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female) was presented to Srishti Shrivastava from English play 'Shikhandi: The Story of the In-Betweens'.

The non-verbal production, 'Karuppu', won two awards including Best Choreography for Mani Bharati and Best Costume awarded to Ruchi Raveendran, who also received a special mention for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female).

Hindi play 'Muktidham' won two awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for Kumud Mishra and Best Original Script for Abhishek Majumdar.

'Shikhandi: The Story of the In-Betweens' also won the META for Best Ensemble.

Apart from the awards for theatrical productions, eminent theatre veteran Vijaya Mehta was conferred the META Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to Indian theatre.

"I am very happy. I love and admire the generation shaping the art world and theatre today. I find them smart, wise and aware - perhaps in a different way from my own generation of the 1950s of the pre and post-Independence period. It is nice to know that young people are recognising and are aware of my work," said the film and theatre director known for her association with the Parallel Cinema movement.

Hosted by theatre and film actor Vinay Pathak, the awards night saw the presence of several stalwarts and influencers including Rajat Kapoor, M K Raina, Sushma Seth, Nissar Allana, Lillete Dubey, Salima Raza, and Danish Hussain.