iWorld
ZEE5 deepens its presence in Malaysia with Celcom in partnership with Apigate
MUMBAI: In a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer-ZEE5 Global announced ZEE5’s partnership with Celcom, Malaysia’s premier and most experienced telecom operator.
This partnership will provide Celcom customers a secure and convenient payment mode, through Apigate’s Direct Carrier Billing API, to subscribe to ZEE5’s rich content bouquet.
ZEE5, which is a part of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) offers 100,000 hours of Indian Movies, TV Shows, News, Videos and exclusive Originals, across 12 languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri and Gujarati. It also offers 60+ popular Live TV channels, including ZEE’s best loved channels.
This collaboration brings the range of ZEE5’s exciting content, including top Tamil TV Shows like Sembaruthi, Poove Poochoodava and Yaaradi Nee Mohini, ZEE5 Tamil Originals including Kallachirippu, America Mapillai and D7 as well as recent blockbusters like Mersal and Kalavu to Celcom customers. The bouquet also includes Bollywood blockbusters like Kedarnath and Veere Di Wedding as well as dubbed Originals like Abhay (Kunal Kemmu), Final Call (Arjun Rampal) and Rangbaaz (Saqib Saleem).
“We have an extremely aggressive global rollout plan charted out for ZEE5 over the next fiscal and ensuring we have the most relevant partnerships in place is a key element of that. Malaysia is a high focus market for us, given its huge affinity for Indian and South Asian content and growing appetite for online video content. We will soon be launching content in international languages too including Malay, and we are extremely glad to partner with a key local operator like Celcom to jointly grow the opportunity in this market,“ said Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and Z5 Global
“As we rapidly expand our partnerships across the Globe, we’re happy to announce Celcom as our first partnership in the South East Asian region. We’re already seeing a strong response in Malaysia, and partnering with a leading telecom operator like Celcom will enable us to quickly scale up awareness and access to ZEE5 among their huge customer base,” adds Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer- ZEE5 Global
Zoran Vasiljev, Chief Executive Officer, Apigate said, “Online Video streaming is a booming opportunity and we are excited to partner with a fast-growing platform like ZEE5 to enable their global expansion starting with Celcom in Malaysia”
iWorld
Zeel to invest up to Rs 116 crore in PhantomFX for AVGC push
Strategic deal targets VFX, animation and gaming to scale global IP play.
MUMBAI: Lights, camera… and now a lot more action behind the scenes Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is doubling down on the magic that happens after the shoot, betting big on visual effects and animation to power its next growth chapter. The company has approved a strategic investment of up to Rs 116 crore in Phantom Digital Effects Ltd., marking a decisive push into the fast-growing Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comics (AVGC) segment. The investment will be made through compulsorily convertible debentures in one or more tranches, subject to shareholder approvals.
The move signals a clear shift in Zeel’s playbook from just telling stories to engineering how they look, feel and travel across platforms. With PhantomFX’s global footprint spanning key markets such as the US and UK, the partnership is expected to significantly enhance ZEEL’s ability to create high-impact, visually rich content across OTT originals, animation, gaming and mythology-led formats.
At the heart of the collaboration lies a blend of storytelling muscle and technological precision. Zeel plans to tap into PhantomFX’s AI-integrated production workflows, proprietary pipelines and post-production expertise to improve efficiency and scale across projects. The two companies will also jointly develop original intellectual properties for OTT, gaming and licensing, expanding monetisation avenues beyond traditional formats.
The partnership is structured as non-exclusive, allowing PhantomFX to retain operational independence while continuing to serve its global clientele. For Zeel, however, the alliance offers a steady pipeline of creative and technical capabilities, enabling it to strengthen its omni-channel strategy and build globally relevant content assets.
PhantomFX brings with it an impressive pedigree. Its network includes award-winning studios such as Tippett Studio known for Academy Award-winning work on Jurassic Park and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Milk Visual Effects, which has bagged both an Oscar and a BAFTA for Ex Machina.
The investment comes at a time when the AVGC space is rapidly expanding, driven by demand for immersive, effects-heavy storytelling and cross-platform content experiences. For Zeel, this isn’t just a deal, it’s a visual upgrade to its global ambitions, where pixels, pipelines and IP could define the next blockbuster moment.
