English Entertainment
&Privé HD ropes in Fiama and Vaseline, premieres with ‘Moonlight’ on Sunday
MUMBAI: ZEEL’s new channel &Privé HD, which promises to treat cinema lovers, through collaborations with Hollywood studios — Sony Pictures and Paramount, has roped in partners Fiama and Vaseline.
Discerning cinema lovers are in for a treat as Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) announced the launch of its premium English movie channel. The channel has been designed for those who venture into the depths of cinema, who crave for the alternative…who feel the other side! &Privé will go live across major DTH HD platforms on 24 September at 1 pm with the premiere of 2017’s Oscar winning movie, Moonlight.
With an aim to drive conversations around fine cinema and its nuances, &Privé held a launch ceremony at Royal Opera House in Mumbai which saw some of India’s most celebrated non-conformist film personalities – actors Vidya Balan and Konkona Sen-Sharma along with film-maker Vishal Bhardwaj and producer Manish Mundra come together to celebrate ‘The Other Side’ of cinema.
Moderated by Samar Khan, the panel discussion witnessed these artistes share their cinematic journey as they revealed the movies and artistes who had a deep impact on their craft. It also brought to the fore an interesting perspective on movies like Moonlight, Jackie and Pele, amongst others, as how they have showcased multiple layers of emotions compelling cinema lovers to unravel each layer and feel the soul of the movies.
Derived from the French word Privé which means a personal or private place, &Privé will showcase premieres of award winning films such as Jackie, Arrival, Lion, The Founder and Pele, to name a few. The channel will celebrate fine cinema with two properties, ‘True Side’ and ‘100 Sides at 9’. ‘100 Sides at 9’ will present viewers with 100 days of unmissable cinema, highlighting the 100 different sides of films at 9 pm every day.
The ‘True Side’ property will bring to life the captivating real-life stories and biographies of some of the most inspiring individuals every Saturday at 11:00pm. &Privé HD will be premiering 40 critically acclaimed films and have 350 celebrated titles in their line-up.
ZEEL CEO – domestic broadcast Punit Misra said, “For the audience who chart their own path and take the road less travelled, we present &Privé HD. It’s a premium destination especially created for these non-conformists who aren’t happy with just scratching the surface of movies, but love to dive deeper into their souls those who go beyond the obvious and feel the other side.”
Balan shared, “There were two things which appealed greatly to me when I heard about &Prive – First, the concept and ideology on which the channel was based and second being, the challenge they were addressing by targeting the mindset of the audience. Movies like Moonlight, which is a personal favourite, pushes viewers to be more accepting of people’s upbringing and sexual preferences.”
Sharma said, “Films like Moonlight and Lion do that, they open doors to new possibilities, new cinema.” Bhardwaj shared, “I can assure you that the movies which will be showcased are not just films, they are works of art. They cater both to your rational and emotional side.”
So, be prepared to indulge the non-conformist in you.
English Entertainment
Ellison takes his Paramount-Warner Bros case straight to theater owners
The Skydance chief goes to CinemaCon with promises and a skeptical crowd waiting
CALIFORNIA: David Ellison strode into a room packed with thousands of cinema owners and executives at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Thursday and did something rather bold: he looked them in the eye and asked them to trust him.
The chief executive of Paramount Skydance vowed that his company would release a minimum of 30 films a year if regulators greenlight its proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, a deal that has made theater owners deeply, and loudly, nervous.
“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” Ellison told the crowd. “Once we combine with Warner Bros, we are going to make a minimum of 30 films annually across both studios.”
It was a confident pitch. Whether it landed is another matter. Cinema operators have already called on regulators to block the deal, and scepticism in the room was hardly concealed.
Ellison pushed back by pointing to recent form. Paramount, born from the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance Media last August, plans to release 15 films this year, nearly double the eight it put out in 2025. Progress, he argued, was already underway.
He also threw theater owners a bone they have long been chasing: all films, he pledged, would run exclusively in cinemas for a minimum of 45 days, drawing applause from a crowd that has spent years fighting for exactly that commitment across the industry.
“People can speculate all they want,” Ellison said, “but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”
Fine words. The regulators, however, will have the last one.
