Drive away lockdown blues

In its pursuit to bring touching stories and thoughtful content to the forefront, Zee Theatre has continued to produce exceptional plays from around the world that tell little known but highly entertaining and relevant tales. By partnering with renowned Indian theatre veterans, Zee Theatre is also recreating some of the most celebrated stories with striking productions and refreshing music based on contemporary taste. With the help of Zee Theatre, plays have now become easily accessible to audiences around the world on a click of a button. This month, tune into Tata Sky Theatre for an array of teleplays to fill the boredom and make the self-isolation a tad bit easier.

Typecast

Mahipat Babruvahan is the first from his caste and village to complete his MA degree. Being fired from his current job after expecting a raise, he takes up a new job as a professor where his patience is put to the test by his students and his love interest. The teleplay stars Shreyas Talpade, Atul Mathur, Aaditi Pohankar and Utkarsh Mazumdar.

Maa Retire Hoti Hai

What if your mother decides to retire from household chores? A woman who has unconditionally served her family through the years finally decides to do the unthinkable. She retires from her duties at home, much to her family's surprise. The play serves as an eye-opener to the condition of Indian women who are expected to let their own happiness take the back seat in favour of the well-being of everyone else. It is a powerful play with the lead role aptly played by the late Reema Lagoo.

Rahenge Sadaa Gardish Mein Tare

The teleplay is heavily inspired by the life of filmmaker Guru Dutt, his songstress wife Geeta Dutt and their tumultuous marriage. The teleplay is a tribute to 1950's Hindi cinema with a moving story even melancholic at times. The show sees some powerful performances by Sonali Kulkarni and Arif Zakaria under the direction of Saif Hyder Hasan.

The Relationship

Agreement

A couple draws up a relationship contract to avoid the trials and errors of a relationship. Things get further complicated when their parents meet each other on social media and start dating. Will the young couple be able to stick to the agreement? Starring Sumona Chakravarti, Sajeel Parakh, Darius Shroff and Pheroza Mody, the show is a must-watch.

Bhamashah

Based on the great Indian philanthropist, warrior and advisor to Maharana Pratap and also a Jain Shravak, the play dwells on Bhamashah's wars against the Mughals and how he donated all his exploits and the treasures from the wars to Mewar. The show stars Daya Shankar Pandey and Manoj Shah in the lead roles.

Piya Behrupiya

'Piya Behrupiya' is a Hindi adaption of Shakespeare's rib-tickling comedy 'Twelfth Night'. Set to foot-tapping folk fusion music, 'Piya Behrupiya' tells the story of unrequited love - Duke Orsino for Olivia, Olivia for Cesario and Cesario, who is Viola in a man's disguise, for the Duke. It is a must for all Shakespeare fans. The cast includes Geetanjali Kulkarni, Amitosh Nagpal, Sagar Deshmukh, Mansi Multani, Mantra Mugdh, Gagan Riar, Neha Saraf, Trupti Khamkar, Saurabh Nayar.

Wrong Turn

Arun walks into an old house one rainy night to find three retired lawyers amusing themselves with an unusual game that he agrees to join. The lawyers recreate a trial scene with one of them agreeing to prosecute Arun while the other defends him, and the third lawyer presides over the proceedings as a judge. They promise him a fair trial. If proven guilty, a severe fate awaits him. It is a suspense thriller that will amaze die-hard fans of court-room dramas and stars Govind Namdev, Lalit Tiwari, Varun Badola and Liliput Faruqui.

Final Solutions

Two stories in different periods find a common link amid communal violence. 15-year-old Daksha tells a tale of two time periods and exposes the sad truth of how intolerance has not changed even 50 years after India's Independence. What happens when Daksha is confronted with a similar situation she faced 50 years ago?

The Will

Six youngsters meet at an ancient mansion in the outskirts of Bhopal in the hope of a large inheritance. Here they are confronted by both the horrors of their past and the mysterious forces that lurk in the dark corners of the house. Set in the 60s, the play promises generous doses of both horror and humour all rolled in one. It stars Anil Mange, Pawan Chopra, Brijendra Kala, Anjum Sharma, Vikram Kochhar.

Besides Hindi, Media and entertainment powerhouse, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has a lot of new delights across multiple languages to help small screen addicts bust lockdown blues. The new offerings include Zee Kannada's 'Lockdown Diaries' and 'Coffee With Anu'. Zee Marathi has three upcoming non-fiction shows, 'Vedh Bhavishyacha', 'Gharchya Ghari Home Minister' and 'Gharat Basle Saare'. The channel is also set to offer four new fiction shows, all of which have been shot in Maharashtra keeping in mind the new social distancing guidelines.

ZEE Sarthak has started airing 'Lockdown Challenge', a non-fiction show that showcases the lives and lifestyles of leading celebrities during the ongoing lockdown. The channel is also ready with an original movie titled 'Mu Tame Lockdown', which is expected to release in June. The actors have shot both the show and the original film at their homes using mobile phone cameras.

On the digital front, ZEE5 has come up with 11 new original shows and movies during the lockdown and is ready to release five more by the end of May 2020.

Some of these new shows that have been shot entirely within the actors' homes include 'Bhalla Calling Bhalla', 'Never Kiss Your Best Friend' and 'Kaalchakra' among others.

In addition to this, projects releasing this month include the Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer 'Ghoomketu' (May 22) and the second season of the web series 'Kaali' (May 29).

Zee Music Company, the music vertical of the Company is geared up to add over 1,000 songs to its catalogue this year. During the lockdown phase itself, the vertical has released over 120 songs, which is by far, the largest output by any label in the Indian Music Industry. ZEE Music entertains over 54.9 million subscribers on YouTube.

The vertical is also focusing on creating Zee Music Originals which are home-shot music videos by renowned artists. Music from albums like 'Shakuntala Devi' and 'Gulabo Sitabo' will also be offered to the consumers.

The Company's Broadcast Operations and Engineering team developed remote clients through which systems could be operated remotely from home, which is a first of its kind in the industry. A Work from Home edit capability was implemented for key studio activities such as editing, graphics, audio, and online applications by using proxy-based workflows with edit-over-cloud solutions.

"ZEE has always set new trends for the industry, and I am very proud of our teams for making the optimal utilisation of technology solutions to ensure that our consumers continue to get a fresh dosage of entertainment content, amidst the lockdown. We will continue to create fresh, rich and engaging content for our viewers by discovering new means and paths. It is time for the industry to define a new normal, to ensure that our consumers remain well-informed and entertained," said Punit Goenka, managing director and chief executive officer, ZEE.

As a leading player in the media and entertainment industry, ZEE has yet again outperformed the industry by staying ahead of the curve, with a sharp focus on keeping its consumers well-informed and entertained.