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The line-up features some of the biggest stars of Bangla Cinema namely Parambrata Chatterjee, Ankush Hazra, Raima Sen, Priyanka Sarkar, Ushasi Ray, Saswata Chatterjee, Ritwick Chakraborty, Soham Chakraborty, Kaushik Ganguly, Vikram Chatterjee, Indrani Haldar, Gaurav Chakrabarty, Arjun Chakrabarty, Ishaa Saha, Oindrila Sen, Ananya Chatterjee, Paayel Sarkar, Koushani Mukherjee, Riddhima Ghosh, Ankitaa Chakraborty among others
Collaborating with the finest directors like Anjan Dutta, Arindam Sil, Raj Chakraborty, Sahana Dutta, Debaloy Bhattacharya, Sayantan Ghoshal, Joydeep Mukherjee, Sani Ghosh Ray, Nirjhar Mitra, Aritra Sen and the critically acclaimed Indranil Roychowdhury, among others, ZEE5 Global brings the best of Bengali entertainment for its global audiences
The star-studded event in Kolkata, India themed ‘Erpor ki’ witnessed the launch of 10 original content titles and exclusive movies per month to be released in the coming year
ZEE5 Global, the world’s largest streaming platform for South Asian content, is all set to end the year on a delightful note as it unveiled a power-packed content slate of 10 big-ticket originals along with much awaited movies for the global Bengali diaspora starting 2023. Expanding its premium content offerings, ZEE5 Global confirmed that it will eventually release a web series every month, ranging from whodunit murder mysteries, crime dramas, psychological thrillers, sleuth adventures with the quintessential Bengali comedy and romance. The high-octane slate brings forth a gamut of emotions through the unique stories on offer, featuring collaborations with the best storytellers from the region and some of the most sought-after stars of Bangla Cinema to create the next chapter of Bengali entertainment with ZEE5 Global.
Consolidating its presence worldwide, ZEE5 Global is one of the first video OTT players to announce an exclusive, specially curated Bangla slate for its global audiences across 190+ countries
Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, said, “We have seen tremendous growth in content consumption across Indian languages this past year on ZEE5 Global as we’ve brought diaspora audiences the biggest blockbusters in their language. Bengali titles especially seem to have resonated well with viewers all over the globe. Catering to this increasing demand, we are excited to share with our viewers an all-new Bengali slate featuring star-studded titles crafted by some of the finest storytellers of today. These titles, spanning a multitude of genres, are sure to strike a chord with our viewers. We have always looked to bring the South Asian diaspora content that they resonate with and stories that bring them closer to their roots, and we are sure that this new slate will delight our global audiences.”
Talking about the content slate for 2023, Mr. Samrat Ghosh, Chief Cluster Officer – East, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) said, “We are stoked to present the Bangla OTT viewer with a large and exclusive offering of 10 original titles and some of the best hand-picked movies from the market. We are working with the most prolific storytellers and actors who have proven not just their performance mettle in keeping the viewers hooked to what will happen next (Erpor Ki),but also earned widespread viewer love. Besides that, we have stories from different parts of West Bengal that reflect its cultural essence and the variedness of its landscape. We have stories that emerge from our Bangaliana but also reflect the challenges and the complexities of this new world we live in. We are confident that our content slate will excite the OTT Bangla viewer and address their need for pace, thrill and adventure. We look forward to their response to our bouquet of content offerings.”
Highlighting ZEE5 Global’s content strategy, Mr. Punit Misra, President – Content and International Markets at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd said, “Creating great content through in-depth understanding of our viewers and the cultural ethos of the manyBharats that constitute India has resulted in ZEE5 Global’s consistent growth across languages. Our creative team has a distinctive approach to content design that we call #SoulToScreen where great viewer and cultural understanding meets inspired creativity, delivering delightful content experiences. Through partnerships with some of the finest content creators in the Bangla entertainment industry, we have been successful in curating a content slate that embodies the true cultural essence of today’s Bengal. Our content slate is reflective of the Bengali OTT viewers’ growing appetite for high-octane, edge-of-the-seat entertainment presented in a contemporary avatar that celebrates the new codes of‘Bangaliana’. We hope that this labour of love of our team will be worthy of love & recommendations from viewers of Bangla OTT content globally.”
Presenting an entire spectrum of the thriller genre like never before, the extensive content line-up features murder-mystery Raktokarabi starring Raima Sen andVikram Chatterjee, revolving around a Bengali joint family with an ocean of secrets. Shikarpur, featuring multiple national-award winning actor-director Kaushik Ganguly and Ankush Hazra, marking the latter’s first big fiction OTT debut, walks us through the journey of an underdog detective striving to gain the title of ‘Shikarpurer Sherlock’. Kantaye Kantayeis a series based on the detective novel ‘Shonar Kanta’ by Narayan Sanyal featuring national award-winning actress Ananya Chatterjee and will showcase Saswata Chatterjee in a never-seen-before avatar. Directed by Arindam Sil, Shabash Feludais about Satyajit Ray’s ace detective Feluda solving a complex crime involving a murder and cross-border espionage featuring Parambrata Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty in a Feluda franchise for the first time.
Chhotolok is another intriguing whodunnit human story which will keep viewers on tenterhooks. It is ace director Indranil Roychowdhury’s first OTT fiction series and features a stellar cast that includes Indrani Haldar, Priyanka Sarkar, Ushasi Ray andGaurav Chakrabarty. While Abar Proloywill bring back the much-loved Proloy franchise by Raj Chakraborty, Swetkali, an edge-of-the-seat spooky thriller about cold-blooded murders revolving around an age-old goddess idol, will mark Oindrila’s OTT debut. Also on the line-up is legendary director Anjan Dutt’s Seven, a thriller showcasing the vices of human nature, starring the auteur himself. Completing the roster of originals are Teni Madhab Shil er Full Panjika, a quirky musical romantic thriller and Matsyanyay, which is a story about the scams of a family running a unique medicine business,coming from the house of Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Roadshow Movies.
Director Raj Chakraborty said, “With OTT paving its way, the audience has a lot of content to select from. I am glad that we are associating with a platform like ZEE5 Global who believes in narrating impactful, raw and relatable stories; Abar Proloy is one such story. The web series not only has an impressive narrative but is also relatable and has an intense depiction of heinous crimes and monsters of the society. It is realistic, sensitive, unsettling with intriguing sequences that will trigger some thoughts and questions. All I can say is, brace yourselves for Abar Proloy which will soon stream on ZEE5 Global.”
Actor Parambrata Chatterjee said, “I feel there is nothing like a mystery to engage and deeply involve the audience. Essaying the character of Feluda, it was like stepping into the shoes of Sherlock. It is an honour to be recognised for Ray’s creations with marvellously sketched characters. The web series is an adventurous escapade which will get your adrenaline pumping. The guessing game will keep the audience hooked and enthralled till the end. In the world of entertainment, we are progressing with unique scripts which blend history, thrill and all the ingredients required for a perfect thriller! With ZEE5 Global onboard, I am sure the series will reach every length and breadth of the nation. I am really looking forward to the premiere of the series on the platform.”
The platform also has a slew of exclusive movies including the likes of Bhoy andUttaran(with Ankush Hazra); Ananta (with Ritwick Chakraborty); Joy Kali Kolkatawali (with Nusrat Jahan & Soham Chakraborty); Mini(with Mimi Chakraborty); Boudi Canteen(Subhashree Ganguly, Parambrata Chattopadhyay); Abar Kanchanjangha (with Saswata Chatterjee & Arpita Chatterjee), Jotugriha (with Bonny Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar) and Mahananda (with Gargi Roy Chowdhury & Ishaa Saha).
The star-studded event at Taj Bengal, Kolkata, India was graced by popular personalities from the Bengali entertainment industry including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Ankush Hazra, Oindrila Sen, Kaushik Ganguly, Arindam Sil, Anjan Dutt, Indranil Roychowdhury, Raj Chakrabarty amongst others.
This line up follows the very recent exclusive, digital premieres of theatrical blockbusters like Avijatrik (featuring father-son duo Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Arjun Chakraborty), Agantuk (starring Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar), Hirokgorer Hire (featuring Soham Chakraborty, Bonny Sengupta, Koushani Mukherjee, and Ayushi Talukdar), Antardhaan (with Rajatava Dutta and Parambrata Chattopadhyay), Savings Account (starring Ankush Hazra and Sayantika Banerjee), Hridpindo (featuring Arpita Chatterjee and Shaheb Chattopadhyay), and Amrapali (directed by Raja Chanda).
ZEE5 Global achieved the highest ever global daily active users (DAUs) of 11.4 million while the global monthly active users (MAUs) stood at 112.4 million.
ZEE5 is now also available on Samsung Smart TVs in the U.S.
Users can seamlessly download the ZEE5 app from Google Play Store / iOS App Store on Roku devices, Apple TVs, Android TVs, and Amazon Fire Stick and on Samsung Smart TVs. ZEE5 is also available on www.ZEE5.com.