Keeping South of India entertained at Home

ZEE spruces its offerings and gives families a respite during the lockdown

The recent outbreak of the COVID – 19 has caused a tectonic shift in our lives. The entire nation and industry machinery have channeled all their efforts towards ensuring the safety and wellbeing of one and all. In alignment with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s guidelines, Zee’s South Cluster of channels have been actively highlighting the need for personal safety and hygiene among its viewers, personnel and partners. At the same time, Zee is also committed to ensuring uninterrupted entertainment for its viewers.

“At Zee, we firmly believe that having a significant voice and a large audience mindshare affords us a unique position in society. This necessitates that we use our position to positively engage, entertain and keep our viewers well informed, helping them sail through these tough times.  At this point in time, we encourage all our viewers to abide by the advisory issued by the health officials, to take the necessary precautions to be safe and to not panic. We are working towards a high engagement content strategy basis audience preference and keeping in mind the inherent objective of uplifting the mood at home while we all battle with the dynamics of the lockdown. Each of our channels across the South Cluster have worked tirelessly to not only continue to entertain our audiences, but to lend their voice towards helping break the chain of this pandemic by practicing social distancing. While the efforts of the healthcare professionals and the government go ahead in full force, we believe that no act is too small in amplifying awareness among the masses. I am deeply appreciative and thankful to our artists and our crew who have so willingly supported our efforts during these trying times.” said Siju Prabhakaran, South Cluster Head, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Pvt. Ltd.

Cinema has a very deep cultural and social play in the southern states and with male and kids’ audience at home our movie channels have geared up to offer some of the best titles for family viewing. The newly launched Kannada movie channel- Zee Picchar will captivate films in all hues and shades, replicating an ambience of the multiplex at the home for its viewers, showcasing Jogi, Diggajaru, Bul Bul, Bangarada Manushya, So that the festivities don’t dull down at home, Zee Thirai has planned a weeklong movie festival for the Tamil New Year in April with some of the finest films like Irumugan, 2.0, Mersal, Vikram Vedha & Vantha Rajavathan Varuven. Zee Cinemalu has geared its FPC with entertaining blockbuster movies like Devdas, Jersey, Srimanthadu, Spyder and A AA that are decked with cinematic splendor to provide premium experience to viewers.

GEC channels are working towards curating the best of their content and creating binge worthy slots of some of the most top-rated shows in their respective genres. Zee Telugu viewers will witness re-runs of favourite episodes from popular shows. The channel also plans to telecast popular originals from Zee5. On Zee Tamil they will be telecasting a montage of the best moments from some of the most popular shows such as Sembaruthi, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Sathya and Neethane Enthan Ponvasantham. The intent is offer high octane content like Maha-Epsidoes of Fiction shows and Grand-Finales for Non-Fiction to ensure that the viewers are kept engaged with their favourite shows and their loyalties are fostered. Dedicated movie slots have been launched on all the channels. Zee Kannada will air original Fiction content for the audiences until the mid of April, while the channel will have re-runs of prominent Non-Fiction shows, movies and events, including award ceremonies and audio launches starting this weekend. Zee Keralam will capitalise its strong bank and ensure that weekend entertainment remains fresh with their top performing non-fiction shows.

The network has implemented several measures to ensure that its crew and the artists remain safe during this time. Each of the channels have gone above and beyond as they have embarked on unique campaigns off air, by leveraging the Zee stars, to promote social distancing, hygiene practices and self-isolation on their respective social media platforms.