iWorld
ZEE5 Global provides Bollywood entertainment in Middle East
Mumbai: Bollywood films have always been appreciated and loved throughout the Middle East, particularly in the UAE among both Indians and local audiences. ZEE5 Global, a streaming platform, is now amplifying this connection.
ZEE5 Global provides South Asian entertainment in the Middle East and around the globe, has one of the greatest collections of content in South Indian languages, over 4000 movies, and the largest collection of movies across all South Indian languages.
The platform recently premiered the mega-blockbuster “RRR” in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada and also “The Kashmir Files” both of which were huge hits across the Middle East.
ZEE5 Global recently announced its partnership with the LuLu Group for their India Utsav celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.
ZEE5 Global chief business officer Archana Anand, said, “We are very happy to partner with LuLu for yet another hugely successful event to bring the entertainment factor into the shopping experience. Sonali’s presence only added to the festive spirit as fans were thrilled to meet the star. The Middle East is a very special market for us and we look forward to continuing to enthral our audiences here with the best of Bollywood blockbusters and South Asian stories”.
She further added, “As part of the festivities, ZEE5 Global flew in actor Sonali Bendre, who had a special meet and greet with fans who flocked to Dubai and Abu Dhabi on 20 August. Sonali, who recently made her OTT debut on ZEE5 Global with The Broken News, also shopped with fans who were overjoyed to meet her”
The announcement was made at the LuLu regional headquarters in Dubai during a live press conference.
The “India Utsav” was launched across the GCC countries on 15 August 2022 at Al Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi, in the Lulu Group’s first ever simultaneous region-wide launch of this celebration.
Actor Sonali Bendre said, “It’s been such a fun experience being at the India Utsav in Dubai and interacting with everyone here. It’s great to see how everyone has participated in the activities as part of the celebrations. My association with ZEE5 Global has always been amazing and I’m so glad that my first OTT show, The Broken News on ZEE5 Global, has been much appreciated and loved by audiences across the world. I’m also excited that Duranga is receiving a positive response on ZEE5 Global, which is a creation of Rose Audio production and helmed by my husband Goldie Behl.”
In addition, the brand has planned a slew of new content launches and partnership announcements for the coming holidays, which will be revealed in the coming weeks.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
