Sumeet Raghavan (right) with Gururaj Avadhani in a still from the play that is based on Steig Larsson's bestseller

The makers of Marathi play Ek Shoonya Teen had a task at hand when they set out to adapt the Swedish bestseller The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo. The hard-hitting and in some parts, explicit content of the Steig Larsson thriller, throws up several challenges in the sheer number of issues it addresses - at the forefront of which is sexual violence against women. Directed by Neeraj Shirvaikar and Sudip Modak, the play, too, is crafted in the same grain. Debutant Swanandi Tikekar plays the central protagonist, while Sumeet Raghavan essays another pivotal character, that of an investigative journalist.