iWorld
ZEE5 has announced the ZEE5 Manoranjan Festival
Mumbai: ZEE5 has announced the ZEE5 Manoranjan Festival, an exclusive Diwali celebration featuring family-friendly and dramatic films for free. Running from 24 October to 3 November 2024, this festival aims to bring the joy of the season to screens, offering entertainment in eight languages.
Viewers can enjoy a selection of over 75 premium titles across Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Bengali, and Punjabi, reflecting themes of joy, tradition, and togetherness. With ZEE5 available on connected TV, audiences can experience these films with cinema-quality visuals at home.
The 11-day campaign includes notable titles such as Saand Ki Aankh, Uunchai, Chhatriwalli, and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha in Hindi; Paappan and Moothon in Malayalam; Yaar Anmulle Returns, Saas Meri Ne Munda Jameya, and Beautiful Billo in Punjabi; Vimanam, Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, and Jersey in Telugu; Thothapuri: Chapter 1, Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, and Kurukshetra in Kannada; Basu Poribar, Mini, and Parineeta in Bengali; Yaanai, DD Returns, and Ayothi in Tamil; and Timepass 2, Timepass 3, and Sairat in Marathi.
ZEE5 India CBO Manish Kalra said, “At ZEE5, our constant effort has been to make world-class entertainment more accessible to everyone, while continuously providing greater value to our consumers. Our festive campaigns have always been loved by the audience and we are eager to bring them back this year. For this season, our focus is on expanding the offerings on the platform to ensure a wider family viewing experience. This Diwali, our aim is to make every moment count with the ZEE5 Manoranjan Festival as the one stop destination for festive family entertainment.”
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.
