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Tag: Aparna Acharekar

  • ZEE5 unveils ‘calendar for January’ 2020 with new originals

    ZEE5 unveils ‘calendar for January’ 2020 with new originals

    MUMBAI:  ZEE5, India’s largest over-the-top platform unveiled a power-packed calendar for January 2020 with new launches across genres and languages.

    ZEE5 has already launched over 100+ Originals across top Indian (regional) languages and created a milestone in the Indian OTT space in 2019.

    Gearing up for next year, ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said: “We are the only OTT platform in the country to have consistently delivered originals across genres and languages for all audience groups.”

    “We are all set to break our own records in 2020 and are constantly working towards ensuring an engaging experience for our viewers,” Acharekar added.

    The launch event hosted by Acharekar, marked the presence of actors Vivek Dahiya, Nakuul Mehta, Rituraj Singh, Sid Makkar, Vivek Mushran, Vipul Deshpande, Vikram Gaikwad, Chitrangada Satarupa, Rajesh Sharma, Aadesh Bandekar, Jiten Lalwani and Sneha Wagh amongst others.

    The indigenous OTT player has scheduled two shows adapted from books of popular Indian authors;  ‘Never Kiss Your Best Friend’ a millennial rom-com based on the young author Sumrit Shahi’s best-selling novel of the same name.

    And, State of Siege: 26/11 is a gripping tale of the terror attacks that rocked Mumbai on 26/11. The show is based on the book ‘Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11 written by top journalist and author Sandeep Unnithan.

    Breaking the stereotype, the platform to also feature shows with women as protagonists; one such original called as Code M starring Jennifer Winget, Tanuj Virwani and Rajat Kapoor and Kark Rouge to be a bilingual series in Hindi and in Bengali starring Chitrangada Satrupa, Indraneil Sengupta and Rajesh Sharma.

  • ZEE5 adds ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ to its movie library

    ZEE5 adds ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ to its movie library

    MUMBAI: India’s largest video streaming platform ZEE5 is all set to premiere one of the most critically acclaimed films in recent times Saand Ki Aankh. The film showcases the inspirational story of the world's oldest sharpshooters – Chandro and Prakashi Tomar portrayed by Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar. Directed by Tushar Hiranandani the film will go live on the platform on 27 December 19.

    The film is produced by Anurag Kashyap and Nidhi Parmar. It also stars Prakash Jha, Vineet Kumar, and Shaad Randhawa in pivotal roles.

    Saand Ki Aankh did very well at the Indian box office and was later also declared tax free by Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan government. The film will now be available exclusively on ZEE5.

    Sharing her thoughts, ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “It has been a fantastic year for us where we have strengthened our content library with original content as well as acquisitions. We are constantly striving to curate a complete experience for our viewers and Sandh Ki Aankh is our latest addition. We have a range of content available for our audiences to watch this festive season.”

    ZEE5 has a robust film library with a fantastic curation of films. From URI- the Surgical Strike, Dream Girl, Simmba, Sonchiriya, Kedarnath, PADMAN, Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Parmanu, The Tashkent Files, The Accidental Prime Minister, Judgemental Hai Kya, Jabariya Jodi to name a few.

  • Continuously launching content targeted at different taste clusters ensures good retention: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    Continuously launching content targeted at different taste clusters ensures good retention: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    MUMBAI: Among the home-grown over-the-top platforms, ZEE5 has shown most aggression in creating its original content library. As a part of its content strategy for the upcoming year, franchises will play a key role along with a line-up of nearly 20 original films.

    “We’ve lined-up enough shows till March 20-21 with backup shows too. This 20-21 is going to be huge. If 19-20 was big then 20-21 is going to be bigger and I don’t know how 21 -22 will be,” ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar shares ecstatically.

    The OTT platform plans to focus on its franchise shows. “Franchise will be key to content strategy. So, some of our successful shows from 18-19 and 19-20 will go into new seasons. Some new shows will be introduced as now we have acquired newer taste clusters and new audiences. Every month we will have series, films and regional content launch. This is in addition to all the commercial movie acquisitions,” she adds further.

    Sharing her understanding of the Indian audience, she notes that the platform looks at audiences from the point of view of taste clusters rather than classifying them demographically. According to her, it’s not really about one type of content and audience is not behind one genre. There are shows which do well across age groups and cities. Moreover, she also mentions that tastes also evolve over a period of time. According to her, people are happy to sample all sorts of genres.

    “OTT is now maturing. It’s really now not so early for us but the Indian consumer is happy to pay for content. The Indian consumer wants good engaging content so all the fear we always had around whether the Indian consumer will pay or is it only free audience, I think that is over. The industry need not worry about it anymore as Indian consumers are happy to pay for good content. He is value-conscious but at the same time if there is enough interesting content for him he is happy to take a long term subscription also,” she says.

    According to her, from a consumer retention point of view, consistent releases and a good line up for all sorts of taste clusters is very important. “Continuously launching content targeted at different taste clusters ensure that there is good retention on a platform and then, of course, the complete convenience, the experience of making payment easy is also important,” she adds.

    Re-emphasising the regional boom in OTT, she said that regional audiences give healthy responses to OTT.  They not only consume content of their language but also happily adopt content dubbed in their language.

    “We have seen very good adoption of ZEE5 because we also give consumers an option to change the display language of the app. So if somebody is not comfortable navigating in English, he can change the display language to Hindi, Tamil or Telugu or any of the 12 different Indian languages we offer and we have seen a great uptake for that also. In fact, with every passing month, we see more uptake of this and the relative share of English as a display language going down,” she adds.

    The challenge of finding good scripts and writers is still there. There are good content makers but it is difficult to learn the art of the writing for the medium. Writing for a 400-minute series is like a two-hour-long movie. Additionally, every episode needs to be engaging.

  • ZEE5 launches 8 new Tamil originals

    ZEE5 launches 8 new Tamil originals

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 announced a line-up of eight Originals to strengthen its Tamil content offering – this will be a combination of web series as also movies. This will be complemented by the recently announced special subscription packs for the Tamil audience which includes Before TV content of popular ZEE Tamil shows, world digital premieres and Originals.

    ZEE5 Tamil Originals comprises of Original movies and shows across genres. The shows announced are What’s up Velakkari, Auto Shankar, Mitta, Postman and Thiravam.

    What’s up Velakkari will introduce you to a high intensity drama in the modern-urban space with three main protagonists – a husband and wife and their house maid. Auto Shankar is a web-series based on the true horrific incidents of six murders in two years committed by Shankar and his gang. Mitta revolves around two stoners who get themselves into different events of trouble. Postman is a story of a man who meets with an accident that puts him in a coma. 20 years later, he wakes up from the vegetative state and he sets out on a mission to deliver the letters that he couldn’t. Thiravam is an intriguing tale of a man who claims to have found a holy grail, the world’s most needed fuel for motors to run and the trivia around it.

    The platform will also be launching Original movies – Oru Pakka Kadhai, Kalavu and Sigai exclusively for their audience.

    ZEE5 India business head Manish Aggarwal commented, “South India is an important market for us. We are strengthening our presence with a strong content line up complemented by region specific subscription packs. We have a huge consumer base across the metros and our aim is to have a value pack that caters to the regional language preferences of audiences in the tier 2 cities, towns and villages that have shown huge potential.”

    ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “The Tamil audience has shown a phenomenal response to the regional content on the platform, and with a power packed content line-up the response will only keep getting better. We are delighted to associate with so many renowned actors who resonate with the audience to give the story a local flavor. The strong content line up complemented by our recently launched Regional Subscription pack makes it a unique proposition.”

    Speaking about the launch, Oru Pakka Kadhai director Balaji Dharanidharan said, “Digital is one of the fastest evolving platforms in entertainment and we are thrilled that ZEE5 is bringing international quality content to the Tamil audience’s portable screen. I was waiting for this moment and am excited that it’s launching finally on a platform which has no leaps and bounds.”

    Speaking about the launch, Actor Kathir said, “Sigai is a one of a kind show which brings a great concept in an edgy presentation. The concept of the show is very intriguing, and we are glad to present this show on ZEE5. With its extensive regional reach, we are confident that our story will relay out to a much larger language audience. We are certain that this show will give audience incredible value for their money.”

    The ZEE5 Tamil and Telugu Premium packs are each priced competitively at Rs 49 for one month and Rs 499 for a year. Additionally, subscribers can avail a 50 per cent cashback on the above-mentioned price by paying through Paytm.

  • TIGMANSHU DHULIA IN ZEE5’S UPCOMING ORIGINAL, RANGBAAZ

    TIGMANSHU DHULIA IN ZEE5’S UPCOMING ORIGINAL, RANGBAAZ

    MUMBAI: Acclaimed director, producer and actor Tigmanshu Dhulia, has joined the cast of ZEE5’s upcoming Original, Rangbaaz. Tigmanshu essays the role of Ram Shankar Tiwari, who has an intimidating personality and is a master class politician.

    Tigmanshu joins Saqib Saleeb, Ranvir Shorey, Aahana Kumra and Ravi Kishan in Rangbaaz, which is set against the rustic background of the UP of the 90s. The story revolves around a man engaging in the dark and dirty world of crime and shows the human side of one of the most feared gangsters of the region from the '90s.

    Talking about the same Tigmanshu Dhulia said, “Rangbaaz has a great narrative and the team working on it is excellent. I am excited to be a part of this project with ZEE5. I was attracted to my character Ram Shankar Tiwari – he is a sharp, relatable politician with power.”

    Manish Aggarwal, Business Head, ZEE5 India said, “Rangbaaz, with a promising storyline and a creative bunch of actors will surely create excitement in the minds of viewers. It is not your regular gangster-cop drama. It is a story inspired by real-life events. With a veteran creative mind like Tigmanshu Dhulia joining the show, this time as an actor, it adds to the overall expectation from the audience. This is one of our biggest Originals at ZEE5 and we will reveal the launch date soon.”

    Aparna Acharekar, Programming Head, ZEE5 India said, “Rangbaaz has a unique flavour and will surely catch the viewers’ attention. Whether it is all the actors essaying their respective characters with full conviction or the fantastic storytelling, Rangbaaz is sure to stand out. The ZEE5 content team led by Nidhi Mishra has done a commendable job of putting this show together. While we already have a fantastic cast, with Tigmanshu Dhulia joining the team as an actor, his inputs and creative expertise will further raise the expectation for the audience.”  

    Produced by JAR Pictures with Creative Director Nishikant Kamat & directed by Bhav Dhulia, written by RJ Siddharth (Siddharth Mishra), Rangbaaz premieres on ZEE5 this December.