Hindi
Zee Cine Awards hops on to Zee Cinema & Zee Anmol; regional categories introduced
MUMBAI: In its 16th year, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s (ZEEL) awards property – Zee Cine Awards 2016 has made several changes and introduced new elements.
Zee Cine Awards 2016 will be held on 20 February in Mumbai and will be simulcast on 5 March across the Zee Network channels like Zee Cinema, Zee Cinema HD and its free-to-air channel Zee Anmol. Pertinent to note here is that previously, the awards were aired on the network’s flagship Hindi GEC Zee TV. However, this time round it has been put on its Hindi movie channel – Zee Cinema as well as its FTA channel Zee Anmol, which has been doing well on ratings front ever since the BARC rural inclusive data was released last year.
“The reason why we shifted Zee Cine Awards from Zee TV to Zee Cinema is because initially it started from Zee Cinema itself. As it’s an award of cinema, it should belong to its home on Zee Cinema and now onwards we will be airing it on Zee Cinema,” ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka tells Indiantelevision.com.
ZEEL chief business officer Sunil Buch added, “ZEEL comes alive in a synergistic way to deliver Zee Cine Awards 2016. Zee Music Company continues to be our music touch point in the fraternity. This year’s Zee Cine Awards has been conceptualised, created and produced by Zee Studios, our state-of-the-art film and TV production arm. And there is a goodness of fit to a film awards show being premiered on Zee Cinema rather than on a GEC. Zee Cinema with an average weekly base of 184 million viewers is higher than any other channel across Hindi Speaking Markets (Source: BARC-Urban + Rural India, Average of Week 41’15-Week 3’16, NCCS 4+). The simulcast of the awards on India’s leading FTA GEC channel, Zee Anmol also adds to its reach in rural India.”
Moreover, for the first time ever, the awards, which until now lauded the best of Hindi cinema, will also award Marathi, Bangla, Telugu cinema this year. ZEEL will also showcase the regional awards content on its regional channels namely Zee Bangla, Zee Marathi and Zee Telugu.
Goenka added, “Keeping the Zee’s ethos, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World Is My Family, into consideration we have introduced a few new elements this year in Zee Cine Awards 2016. For the first time on the national award stage, regional content will be presented awards this year. Renowned personalities from Telugu, Marathi and Bengali cinema will perform on stage and that exclusive content will be telecast on Zee Bangla, Zee Marathi and Zee Telugu respectively, so that people can see the talent that regional cinema has.”
Apart from that ZEEL has also introduced the Jury Awards this year, which will be adjudged by a panel comprising Rakesh Roshan, Resul Pookutty, Ravi K Chandran, Anurag Basu, Leena Yadav, Prasoon Joshi and Shantanu Moitra.
The 15th edition of Zee Cine Awards was telecast on Zee TV in 2014 and a no show in 2015. Talking about the same, Goenka said, “We missed the awards last year because we were in the process of launching new brands from our network. However, we will ensure that it doesn’t happen in the future.”
To authenticate the voting mechanism of both, the Jury Awards and the Viewer’s Choice Awards, Zee has appointed the Ernst & Young.
This year the award ceremony will be hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Karan Johar.
Hindi
Zee5 and Applause Entertainment team up for whodunnit ‘Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa’
Rajat Kapoor directs star-studded murder mystery streaming from 10 April.
MUMBAI: Zee5 is serving up another killer collaboration and this time, the murder mystery comes with a generous side of dark humour and family dysfunction. The streaming platform has partnered with Applause Entertainment and Mithya Talkies to bring Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, a fresh, twisted whodunnit written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker and actor Rajat Kapoor. The film will stream exclusively on Hindi Zee5 from 10 April.
The movie reimagines the classic murder mystery genre with a contemporary, darkly comic edge. It revolves around a group of friends and family who smile, drink, and celebrate together until the silence snaps and long-buried secrets spill out. The stellar ensemble cast includes Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Waluscha De Sousa, Saurabh Shukla, Chandrachoor Rai, Neil Bhoopalam, Koel Purie, Palomi Ghosh, and Rajat Kapoor himself.
This latest offering continues the successful partnership between Zee5 and Applause Entertainment, which has previously delivered diverse hits such as Mithya, Bloody Brothers, and Jab Khuli Kitaab.
&TV Business Head of hindi Zee5 and chief channel officer Kaveri Das said, “Our collaboration with Applause Entertainment has consistently delivered distinct, high-impact storytelling. Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa is a natural progression, reinforcing our focus on genre-led content with a compelling whodunnit premise and a strong ensemble cast.”
Applause Entertainment business head for movies Sunil Chainani added, “This film adds yet another compelling layer to our slate with Rajat Kapoor’s unmistakable voice.”
Rajat Kapoor shared, “What interested me was not just the mechanics of a whodunnit, but the emotional violence that precedes physical violence. These are people who smile at each other, but there’s so much that is not said.”
The film promises razor-sharp writing, layered performances, and simmering tension, inviting viewers not just to solve the crime but to unravel the complex relationships at its heart.
If you love a good murder mystery served with wit and emotional depth, Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa looks set to be your next addictive watch. Mark your calendars, the whodunnit drops on Hindi Zee5 from 10 April.
