iWorld
ZEE5 confirms focus on socially relevant content with #ZEE5GameChangers
Mumbai: ZEE5, India and Bharat’s largest home-grown video streaming platform, the OTT arm of ZEEL, in its latest endeavour announced #ZEE5GameChangers to drive awareness on socially relevant issues through its content and marketing initiatives. The campaign was launched by the leading star-cast of ‘Duranga Season 2’ with the female police force at New Delhi Headquarters deliberating on the struggles and achievements of women in the field of law enforcement. The interaction happened between ace actors Amit Sadh, Drashti Dhami, director Rohan Sippy and ZEE5 AVOD marketing head Abhirup Datta.
The campaign was announced with the launch of upcoming psychological thriller ‘Duranga 2’, highlighting the issue of identity theft alongside championing the narrative of a driven female cop. Through its extensive roster of such stories across a multitude of issues, languages, and formats, ZEE5 has always aimed to spotlight crucial matters that warrant awareness and sensitization via entertainment. The #ZEE5GameChangers initiative is an extension of the content on the platform and seeks to drive awareness on pertinent themes whilst fostering change through bold and powerful storytelling. Sharing the experiences and the journey of police workforce, DCP PRO Suman Nalwa engaged in a conversation with Drashti Dhami, the lead actress of Duranga.
Delhi Police hon’ble DCP PRO Suman Nalwa said, “It is extremely heartening to see ZEE5 coming up with socially relevant and appealing content titles, having the capacity to hold the audiences on the tenterhooks. We are also delighted that ZEE5 acknowledges and appreciates the work being done by women police personnel. The female police officers of the Delhi Police Force hail from different parts of the country and work on challenging tasks despite of their struggles and hardships. This acknowledgment and interaction gives us motivation and rejuvenates our commitment to serve the city to the best of our capabilities.”
Datta said, “At ZEE5, our commitment is to invest in educational, innovative, and relatable content. While we celebrate cultural diversity, we remain steadfast in our pursuit of addressing real-life challenges as a consumer-centric brand. We believe in the transformative power of storytelling and recognize that it’s through deliberate and impactful marketing efforts that we can connect/educate/sensitise the wider audience. With #ZEE5GameChangers we aim to create a platform where we can connect, collaborate, and communicate with our viewers through impactful content and marketing initiatives. With every initiative like this, we aim to create conversations that matter and give our audiences greater access to diverse and quality narratives.”
Duranga’s lead actress Drashti Dhami said, “While Duranga gave me a chance to portray the role of a police officer, #ZEE5GameChangers initiative gave me the chance to interact with some of these brave real-life heroes / women police officers in the Delhi force. It was my profound honour to be part of this initiative that not only celebrates the noteworthy achievements of these exceptional women but also ignites crucial conversations surrounding their inspirational journeys. Meeting them served as a great reminder that each of us has the power to break barriers, shatter stereotypes, and make a significant impact. I am truly thrilled to be a part of a moment that recognizes their invaluable contributions to society and acknowledges that their stories need to be heard and celebrated.”
ZEE5 offers a plethora of socially relevant content across languages, fostering inclusivity, breaking stereotypes, and initiating important conversations to empower audiences and inspire change. Duranga is a web-series with 8 episodes, released in August 2022. It is produced by Rose Audio Visuals and starring Amit Sadh, Drashti Dhami, and Gulshan Devaiah as lead actors and offers a captivating love story packaged with mystery and suspense. Directed by Rohan Sippy, the Season 2 of Duranga premiered on 24th October 2023. For this season, fans can expect more twists and revelations as Inspector Ira investigates her seemingly perfect husband’s dark past.
iWorld
Arafta Season 2 greenlit as YouTube hit crosses 850 million views
GoQuest, Rains double down on global Turkish drama success story
MUMBAI: GoQuest Media and Rains Pictures have greenlit Season 2 of Arafta, riding on the runaway success of its debut season that has clocked over 850 million views on YouTube and secured licensing deals across 19 territories.
The upcoming season, already in production, will span 100 episodes and continue with a YouTube-first release strategy, a model that has proved to be a quiet disruptor in global content distribution. Season 1, which premiered in November 2025, built a strong digital following before translating that traction into international deals.
The series is currently licensed to platforms including Amazon MX Player in India, Kanal 7 in Turkey, and Vidio, along with several markets across Europe such as Romania, Hungary and Latvia. Across five language channels, the show has amassed more than 2.5 million subscribers, signalling growing global appetite for Turkish storytelling.
Notably, many of these licensing deals were struck after the show had already aired on YouTube, flipping the traditional distribution model on its head. Instead of competing with broadcasters, the digital-first strategy appears to be doing the heavy lifting in building awareness and audience demand.
GoQuest Media managing director Vivek Lath said, “Arafta is proving out what we believed about the make-to-sell model. A YouTube-first release does not compete with licensing. It builds the asset that licensees are buying.”
Season 1 wrapped on April 17 with a globally streamed finale that drew over 102,000 concurrent viewers, setting the stage for the next chapter. Lead actors İlsu Demirci and Emin Günenç will return, with the narrative continuing to explore themes of love, vengeance, sacrifice and fate.
Rains Pictures executive Sevda Kaygısız said the decision to move quickly into Season 2 was driven not just by success, but by the depth of the story still to be told. “Arafta is not just a successful project for us; it reflects our belief in powerful storytelling and building a genuine emotional connection with audiences,” she noted.
As Turkish dramas continue to travel beyond borders, Arafta’s success underscores a larger shift in how global hits are made and sold. In this case, the small screen found its big moment online first, and the world followed.
