May was not a very busy month for Zee5 in respect of the quantity of content, rather it was a single direct-to-OTT release that did almost all the work alone.
Let’s start from the beginning of the month, and May started for Zee5 with the release Bengali detective thriller series ‘Shabash Feluda’ starring Parambrata Chattopadhyay as the titular character, Feluda. Based on Satyajit Ray’s 1971 novel the series received mostly positive reviews but did not attract much viewership numbers.
On the same day ‘Fireflies – Parth Aur Jugnu’ also premiered on Zee5 but was quite a letdown. Though the show tried to be a unique fantasy drama it was mostly sloppy and underwhelming.
A week later the first part of the second season of ‘Taj: Regin of Rvenge’ dropped on Zee5. Despite a star studded cast and with the backdrop of the grand Mughal empire, the series yet again failed to impress and had a mixed response from audience and critics alike.
It was only until Manoj Bajpayee led Bandaa’s release that Zee5 could pick itself up from the ruins of the previous releases for the month. This courtroom drama with a powerful story was the highlight of May for the streamer as Manoj Bajpayee led the breakthrough with his brilliant and noteworthy performance.
In the last there was Bengali film ‘Abar Kanchanjungha’ celebrating 100 years of Satyajit Ray. For the first time ever 17 stars come together as a cast for any Bengali film. The film received mixed reviews from critics but mostly went unnoticed.
Overall it was only ‘Bandaa’ that carried the load of May on its shoulders for Zee5. Barring ‘Bandaa’ it was an utterly disappointing and the most dull month for Zee5 this year where it literally had nothing to offer to its subscribers.