ZEE5 Global, the world’s largest streaming platform for South Asian content, is all set to end the year on a delightful note as it unveiled a power-packed content slate of 10 big-ticket originals along with much awaited movies for the global Bengali diaspora starting 2023. Expanding its premium content offerings, ZEE5 Global confirmed that it will eventually release a web series every month, ranging from whodunit murder mysteries, crime dramas, psychological thrillers, sleuth adventures with the quintessential Bengali comedy and romance. The high-octane slate brings forth a gamut of emotions through the unique stories on offer, featuring collaborations with the best storytellers from the region and some of the most sought-after stars of Bangla Cinema to create the next chapter of Bengali entertainment with ZEE5 Global.

Consolidating its presence worldwide, ZEE5 Global is one of the first video OTT players to announce an exclusive, specially curated Bangla slate for its global audiences across 190+ countries

Talking about the content slate for 2023, Mr. Samrat Ghosh, Chief Cluster Officer – East, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) said, “We are stoked to present the Bangla OTT viewer with a large and exclusive offering of 10 original titles and some of the best hand-picked movies from the market. We are working with the most prolific storytellers and actors who have proven not just their performance mettle in keeping the viewers hooked to what will happen next (Erpor Ki),but also earned widespread viewer love. Besides that, we have stories from different parts of West Bengal that reflect its cultural essence and the variedness of its landscape. We have stories that emerge from our Bangaliana but also reflect the challenges and the complexities of this new world we live in. We are confident that our content slate will excite the OTT Bangla viewer and address their need for pace, thrill and adventure. We look forward to their response to our bouquet of content offerings.”

Presenting an entire spectrum of the thriller genre like never before, the extensive content line-up features murder-mystery Raktokarabi starring Raima Sen and Vikram Chatterjee, revolving around a Bengali joint family with an ocean of secrets. Shikarpur, featuring multiple national-award winning actor-director Kaushik Ganguly and Ankush Hazra, marking the latter’s first big fiction OTT debut, walks us through the journey of an underdog detective striving to gain the title of ‘Shikarpurer Sherlock’. Kantaye Kantaye is a series based on the detective novel ‘Shonar Kanta’ by Narayan Sanyal featuring national award-winning actress Ananya Chatterjee and will showcase Saswata Chatterjee in a never-seen-before avatar. Directed by Arindam Sil, Shabash Feluda is about Satyajit Ray’s ace detective Feluda solving a complex crime involving a murder and cross-border espionage featuring Parambrata Chatterjee and Ritwick Chakraborty in a Feluda franchise for the first time.

Chhotolok is another intriguing whodunnit human story which will keep viewers on tenterhooks. It is ace director Indranil Roychowdhury’s first OTT fiction series and features a stellar cast that includes Indrani Haldar, Priyanka Sarkar, Ushasi Ray and Gaurav Chakrabarty. While Abar Proloy will bring back the much-loved Proloy franchise by Raj Chakraborty, Swetkali, an edge-of-the-seat spooky thriller about cold-blooded murders revolving around an age-old goddess idol, will mark Oindrila’s OTT debut. Also on the line-up is legendary director Anjan Dutt’s Seven, a thriller showcasing the vices of human nature, starring the auteur himself. Completing the roster of originals are Teni Madhab Shil er Full Panjika, a quirky musical romantic thriller and Matsyanyay, which is a story about the scams of a family running a unique medicine business, coming from the house of Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Roadshow Movies.

The platform also has a slew of exclusive movies including the likes of Bhoy and Uttaran (with Ankush Hazra); Ananta (with Ritwick Chakraborty); Joy Kali Kolkatawali (with Nusrat Jahan & Soham Chakraborty); Mini (with Mimi Chakraborty); Boudi Canteen (Subhashree Ganguly, Parambrata Chattopadhyay); Abar Kanchanjangha (with Saswata Chatterjee & Arpita Chatterjee), Jotugriha (with Bonny Sengupta, Parambrata Chatterjee, Payel Sarkar) and Mahananda (with Gargi Roy Chowdhury & Ishaa Saha).

The star-studded event at Taj Bengal,Kolkata, India was graced by popular personalities from the Bengali entertainment industry including Prosenjit Chatterjee, Ankush Hazra, Oindrila Sen, Kaushik Ganguly, Arindam Sil, Anjan Dutt, Indranil Roychowdhury, Raj Chakrabarty amongst others.

This line up follows the very recent exclusive, digital premieres of theatrical blockbusters like Avijatrik (featuring father-son duo Sabyasachi Chakraborty and Arjun Chakraborty), Agantuk (starring Abir Chatterjee and Sohini Sarkar), Hirokgorer Hire (featuring Soham Chakraborty, Bonny Sengupta, Koushani Mukherjee, and Ayushi Talukdar), Antardhaan (with Rajatava Dutta and Parambrata Chattopadhyay), Savings Account (starring Ankush Hazra and Sayantika Banerjee), Hridpindo (featuring Arpita Chatterjee and Shaheb Chattopadhyay), and Amrapali (directed by Raja Chanda).

ZEE5 Global achieved the highest ever global daily active users (DAUs) of 11.4 million while the global monthly active users (MAUs) stood at 112.4 million.