On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, South Asian-focused streamer ZEE5 has launched a 111-strong 2023 slate.
A brief about ZEE5 in India releases its slate of 111 new films and television shows for 2023
Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bangla, Punjabi, and Marathi are all represented in the roster. The content was created by renowned producers including Vikas Bahl, Vivek Agnihotri, Nagraj Manjule, Sudhir Mishra, The Viral Fever, Applause Entertainment, Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, Bhanushali Studios, Dharma Productions, and Salman Khan Films.
Manoj Bajpayee, Pankaj Tripathi, Huma Qureshi, Arya, Parambrata Chatterjee, Vijay Sethupathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Radhika Apte are some of the top actors to appear in the programmes and movies.
Titles revealed so far include films and series including Manoj Bajpayee’s “Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai”; Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s “Haddi” and “Love is Blind,” Pankaj Tripathi’s “Kadak Singh”; Huma Qureshi’s “Tarla”; Sunny Deol’s “Gadar 2”; Vetrimaaran and Vijay Sethupathi’s “Viduthalai – Part 1”; Arya’s “Kathar Basha Endra Muthuramalingam”; Nagraj Manjule’s “Ghar Banduk Biryani”; Guneet Monga’s “Gyarah Gyarah”; and Sudhir Mishra’s “Crime Beat.”
“Sunflower,” “Taj: Reign of Revenge,” “Humorously Yours,” “Aam Aadmi Family,” “The Kashmir Files Unreported,” “Duranga,” “Mithya,” “The Broken News,” and “Silence” are among the returning shows.
According to Archana Anand, chief business officer of ZEE5 Global, “This varied collection of exceptional stories spans across languages, genres, and formats, guaranteeing not only entertainment but also a sense of familiarity that brings them closer to home.”
About 30 of the 111 are original series in the Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla that ZEE5 commissions, with half of those being in Hindi, including repeating seasons. According to Manish Kalra, chief business officer of ZEE5 India, the remaining films are a mix of direct-to-digital releases and films that will debut on the service after their theatrical debuts.
There is no one-size-fits-all method for commissioning content due to the size, diversity, and multilingualism of the Indian market as well as the Indian diaspora. ZEE5 is hoarding a lot of information, but it matters when approving new seasons.
According to Nimisha Pandey, chief content officer for Hindi originals at ZEE5 India, “I personally use data as the compass and not a map.” “New commissions aren’t so much data driven as they are need-scope driven, and so much so that it is the appetite of viewers driven.”
The goal of the global streamers is to penetrate as much of India as they can in order to reach the world’s largest population. As a result of its history with linear channels, ZEE5 enjoys an advantage in that regard. In each of India’s more than 4,400 towns and cities, according to Kalra, ZEE5 has paying customers.
“I always think that the real India is actually beyond the metros, therefore obviously the objective is to serve to the real India. If you dig a little deeper, their objectives may differ slightly from those of a lower income group in Mumbai, say, a tiny city in Uttar Pradesh. The reason this slate has nine languages is so that we can tell those tales, connect with them, and ensure we communicate with them in their own language, Kalra said.
