iWorld
ZEE5 announces Sharate Aaj, their biggest Bengali Original, yet
MUMBAI: ZEE5, the #2 OTT player in the country, today announced the beginning of the shoot of the next marquee Original from the regional stable. Sharate Aaj, being shot completely in London, traces the lives of a close-knit Bengali community getting set to bring in the festive cheer of Pujo while being hit by a terror attack conspiracy. Will they be successful at it? The show will take you through an eerie turn of events.
Renowned Actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay who has previously produced Kaali, the first ZEE5 Bengali Original web-series, is now directing Sharate Aaj and also acting in it. The power-packed star cast of the show include Payel Sarkar, Riddhi Sen, Surangana Bandyopadhyay, Kanchan Mallik, Joydeep Mukherjee, Bidipta Chakraborty and Soumya Sengupta.
The show will also be high on the music quotient featuring a mix of Rabindra Sangeet and folk songs. These are being rearranged by Sahana Bajpaie, one of the most prominent contemporary Rabindra Sangeet and Bengali folk music singer/ publisher along with Samantak Sinha, who is also a leading Rabindra Sangeet singer.
Parambrata Chattopadhyay comments, “It feels good to be associated with ZEE5 for the second time. Working with this platform gives me the freedom to think creative and try different concepts. Sharate Aaj is the story of identity crisis, cultural bonding and a terror threat, making the show an edge-of-the-seat thriller. The show is being completely shot in London and will showcase the vibrant Bengali culture present in the city. I am really excited about beginning this shoot.”
Manish Aggarwal, Business Head, ZEE5 India said, “We have seen a steady increase in the user engagement for ZEE5 across regions, making us the #2 OTT platform in the country. West Bengal is one of the key focus markets for us and we have received a phenomenal response to our Bengali Originals – Aranyadeb and Kaali and the exhaustive original content repertoire dubbed in Bengali. Sharate Aaj is one of our marquee shows with a gripping narrative and supported by noted actors. The cultural significance and sensibilities explored with Durga Puja and Rabindra sangeet will also catch the attention of the audience.”
iWorld
WPP Opendoor and Snapchat launch AI Lens for Prime Video India
Generative AI Lens personalises content discovery with real-time user integration.
MUMBAI: In the age of main characters, Prime Video is handing users the script and the spotlight. WPP Opendoor, WPP’s dedicated Amazon unit, has teamed up with Snapchat to roll out an India-first generative AI-powered Lens for Prime Video’s latest campaign, ‘Stories for Your Every Era… it’s on Amazon Prime’. The activation taps into the rising “era-core” trend, where identities shift with moods, moments and mindsets and content is expected to keep up.
The Lens does exactly that. Using generative AI, it places users directly into the worlds of popular Prime Video titles such as Maxton Hall, Beast Games, The Boys and The Traitors, embedding their faces into key visuals in real time. The result is less browsing, more becoming.
The idea is rooted in a behavioural shift: audiences increasingly see themselves as the centre of their own narratives, especially on social platforms. By turning viewers into participants, the campaign blurs the line between content discovery and content experience.
It also introduces a layer of personalisation that goes beyond algorithms. Whether someone identifies with a “trust no-one era” or an “infinite aura era”, the Lens curates recommendations that align with that evolving identity making discovery feel intuitive rather than instructed.
This marks a shift in how streaming platforms approach engagement. Instead of pushing titles, the focus is on pulling users into the story itself transforming passive scrolling into interactive storytelling.
The collaboration also underscores how platforms like Snapchat are becoming key playgrounds for content marketing, particularly when paired with emerging technologies like generative AI. The format is native, immersive and built for participation three things traditional discovery often struggles to deliver.
In a crowded streaming landscape, where attention is the real currency, Prime Video’s bet is clear, if viewers feel like the story is about them, they are far more likely to press play.
