By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, Apr 9 (IANSlife): Thespian Trishla Patel, who plays the character of Beni Bai in the teleplay 'Aaj Rang Hai' -- a musical celebration of India's syncretic cultural and artistic traditions through the poetry of Amir Khusrau -- says that the core message of the play is 'humanity over hate'.

Directed by Purva Naresh, its story revolves around Beni Bai, who has a profound knowledge of the history of Indian classical music and uses it to counsel her neighbours -- be it Fanney and Sharda's inter-religious affair, Ameena and Vidya's endless curiosity about love, life and God or whether Holi is a festival of and for only Hindus -- wise Beni holds the keys to all the complexities.

"(The play) is about loving everybody by transcending caste, creed and religion. The play has many more layers and you go on to discover what India is really about. I gained a deeper insight into Indian culture and began to appreciate it much more while working in the play. I was moved by the inter-religious love story the most," states Patel.

"The play transcends time and space to remind us that love will live beyond us. From Beni Bai's generation to ours, the stories that connect us will carry on. The play is relevant even today even though it is set in a different time frame. Love and hate have existed since the beginning of time and so, this is a story that will never grow dated," Patel tells IANS.

Along with acting for theatre and TV, Trishla has acted in 'Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior' (2020), 'Bunty Aur Babli' (2005) and 'Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota' (2006). She also has a decade-old production company Tpot.

'Aaj Rang Hai' also stars Sarika Singh, Prerna Chawla, Nishi Doshi, Purva Naresh, Pawan Uttam, Imran Rasheed, Hidayat Sami and Danish Hussain.

The Zee Theatre teleplay is now available on TataSky Theatre.