On World Music Day, enjoy music-centric stories like PiyaBehrupiya, Ladies Sangeet, Jhaanjhar Di PaawanChankar, and Dance Like a Man.

For so many of us, music is a refuge, a source of inspiration, healing and joy and it becomes the soundtrack of our lives. This World Music Day, let the music play on as you watch a few Zee Theatre teleplays with beautiful melodies and lyrics at the core of the storytelling.

Here is an overview of what is on offer:

PiyaBehrupiya

This lavishly mounted, glorious Atul Kumar directorial is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s uproarious comedy ‘Twelfth Night.’ Set to foot tapping folk and fusion music, ‘PiyaBehrupiya’ is a joyful journey into the hearts of Duke Orsino, Olivia and Cesario who is in fact Viola in disguise! With robust melodies and intricately choreographed sequences, the teleplay narrates the story of unrequited love that Duke Orsino harbours for Olivia and Olivia feels for Cesario. And there is the feisty Viola, pretending to be Cesario when she is actually in love with the Duke. The play stars Geetanjali Kulkarni, Amitosh Nagpal, Sagar Deshmukh, Mansi Multani, Mantra Mugdh, GaganRiar, Neha Saraf, Trupti Khamkar and Saurabh Nayar.

Ladies Sangeet

This much acclaimed Purva Naresh directorial is a triumph of musical set pieces, incredible set design and choreography. Set against the backdrop of an impending big fat Indian wedding, it also tells a brave story that questions gender norms and the institution of marriage. Radha is to wed her beau Siddharth at her ancestral haveli and her enthusiastic family members and the wedding planner are doing their best to make the occasion as cinematic as possible. However Radha senses some discord between her parents and her own doubts about marriage begin to emerge. It is however hard to confront these issues openly because of a stern matriarch who rules the family with mild tyranny and ignores her children’s predicaments. The play uses humour, lilting music and intense drama to reveal hidden family secrets and to ask important questions about tradition and individual freedom. It stars Joy Sengupta, Nidhi Singh, Siddhant Karnick, Loveleen Mishra, Harsh Khurana , Sarika Singh, Monica Gupta, Niranjan Iyengar, Mallika Singh and Nivedita Bhargava.

Jhaanjhar Di Paawan Chhankaar

Based on ‘Butterflies Are Free,’ a 1969 play by Leonard Gershe, this Sarmad Khoosat directorial revolves around a blind youth who finally decides to live away from his overprotective mother. He moves in with a neighbor who is an aspiring actor and has taken up an unusual role in a movie. In a new environment where dance, music and self expression are a part of everyday life, he begins to find his own true identity. With sensitivity and humour, the play shows how wrong it is to judge people by our own standards and to limit them to their so-called ‘disabilities.’ It stars Sarmad Khoosat, Saniya Mumtaz, Zain Afzal and Iman Shahid.

Dance Like A Man

Mahesh Dattani’s evocative play, ‘Dance Like A Man’ depicts the gender related dogmas that were prevalent in the 1940s. The story revolves around a dancer couple and their family and the emotions of all the characters are choreographed perfectly to depict ambition, jealousy, frustration and rage. We watch how Jairaj, the male protagonist and the women in the play are impacted by patriarchy in different ways. Jairaj is told that Bharatnatyam is not for men and his own wife is manipulated to sabotage him by the family patriarch. Soon the audience is drawn into the dark secrets and conflicts of the family relationships. And yet, the beauty of the dance form that Jairaj cannot forget, endures. The play stars Lillete Dubey, Vijay Crishna, Suchitra Pillai and Joy Sengupta.