ZEE5, India’s home-grown video streaming platform unveiled a content slate of 11 Telugu originals at an event held on June 14 in Hyderabad. This content slate was unveiled in the presence of Dil Raju, Harish Shankar, Praveen Sattaru, Kona Venkat, Niharika and Sushmita Konidela.
The upcoming titles are ‘Recce’, a multi-starrer thriller and ‘Maa Neella Tank’, a romantic comedy based in a small village that marks Sushanth’s OTT debut. The event also saw Dil Raju revealing the first look of ‘ATM’, a heist comedy featuring Subbaraju, Prudhvi and VJ Sunny. Further to this, actor Raj Tarun unveiled the lyrical video of a song from the upcoming ‘Aha Nee Pellanta’- a fun romantic show of a man’s failed attempt at finding a spouse.
Next up is ‘Hello World!’, a story based on the life and trials of a group of youngsters on the cusp of their careers in the prominent IT sector of Hyderabad and ‘Mission Tashaffi’, an adrenaline-pumping spy drama. Other shows announced at the launch event are Paruvu, Bahishkarana, The Black Coat, Prema Vimanam and Hunting of the Stars.
Talking about the focus on the Telugu market, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, “South is an important market for us at ZEE5 and we have been consistent in expanding our presence in this market across languages from the very outset. The response from the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region has been encouraging and we did foresee a growing appetite for Telugu content worldwide. We are excited to work with the Telugu entertainment industry’s talented creative ecosystem and are convinced that we will embark on an exciting and enriching journey together. We have significantly boosted our investments in this market and stand open to collaborate with the creators in delivering extraordinary entertainment to ZEE5 audiences.”
Highlighting ZEE5’s content strategy, Punit Misra, President – Content & International Markets, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “In recent years, we have seen a significant transition in the viewing patterns of Indian audiences, who are now sampling and consuming a diverse range of content on OTT platforms. This uptick has been significant in South India, especially Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which are important markets for us. As we continue to chart the next phase of growth for ZEE5, our focus is to continuously innovate on content and deliver compelling and extraordinary stories, driven by consumer and culture centric design thinking . At ZEE, our #SoulToScreen approach is at the heart of this relentless and disruptive pursuit towards presenting premium content to our audiences. Our content slate in Telugu reaffirms our commitment towards exploring new genres and constantly innovating to keep audiences entertained.”
Anuradha Gudur, Chief Content Officer – Telugu added, “ZEE has a very strong and rich legacy in the Telugu market, with a widespread audience base. Keeping our viewers at the centre of our content strategy, we have time and again delivered authentic and relatable stories through our extensive offerings on television. With shows like Oka Chinna Family Story, we have managed to tap into the innately inclusive Telugu cultural mindset, and we look forward to some of our offerings to tap into the facet further. We aspire to continue entertaining our audiences across platforms, by leveraging our expertise and understanding of viewers that has been garnered over a decade of our presence in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Our mission is to replicate this success on ZEE5, and we are excited to collaborate with some of the most popular creators and prolific talent to narrate 11 new original stories and iconic movies as part of our fresh content slate.”
