August was pretty great for Zee5 despite only a few arrivals. Most of them being original content with solid storyline was the major highlight this last month for Zee5. Let’s get into the detailed analysis.
For the first week of August, Zee5 had no new content on the platform, it was in the second week that the much anticipated original Hindi series ‘Gyaarah Gyaarah’ premiered on the streamer. Now this one came from big banners like Karna Johar’s Dharma Productions and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment, coming afresh from the success of their theatrical collab ‘Kill’. A fantasy thriller series, ‘Gyaarah Gyaarah’ is the Indian adaptation of Korean drama ‘Signal’ and is an innovative approach to cop drama. The characters are well etched and the performances in this one are impressive.
Next up there was another highly awaited Malayalam anthology series ‘Manorathangal’ based on M. T. Vasudevan Nair’s nine short stories and starring some of the prominent names of the Malayalam industry like Mohanlal, Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil, Biju Menon, Indrans, Parvathy Thiruvothu and more. To be honest not all nine parts were great but yes adaptations of Shilalikhitam, Kazhcha, and Sherlock were truly spectacular. Other things that stood out were the performances by actors, narration by Kamal Haasan, and the terrific background score.
Then there was Bengali thriller series ‘Kaantaye Kaantaye’, an adaptation of Narayan Sangal’s P.K Basu series novel Sonar Kaanta, which itself is inspired from The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. The series received mixed reviews from critics and public alike with some praising it for good performances and its music while others calling it overstretched.
Kannada political satire film ‘Ranganayaka’ is the next to come to Zee5 and this one was a total miss with negative reviews from all quarters.
Last and definitely not the least came Hindi original series ‘Murshid’, a gangster drama starring Kay Kay Menon, Tanuj Virwani and Zakir Hussain in prominent roles. Whether it’s the authenticity in the backdrop, it’s impressive writing or Kay Kay Menon’s incredible performance, ‘Murshid’ will have you hooked.
Overall, August, for Zee5, was a month of originals and not just any originals but some good ones that made impact. And the fact that quality prevailed over quantity is a great way to move forward. Zee has been facing issues on other fronts like the Sony merger (which is finally resolved now) and Star India ICC rights matter, but amidst all this the kind of content it has been yielding goes to show the streamer’s strength and solid hold in the viewership.