ZEE5 Global announces its first four Bangladeshi originals

ZEE5 Global, the largest OTT platform for South Asian content, announced the launch of its first Bangladeshi Original, a dark-comedy thriller – Mainkar Chipay at a virtual press conference on Tuesday.

The announcement was made by Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global.

She also announced the development and production of three new Bangladeshi content projects over the next few months, with more in the pipeline. The announcements were made at a star-studded event attended by the likes of Ziaul Faruq Apurba, Nusraat Faria, Afran Nisho, Bidya Sinha Mim, Arifin Shuvoo and many more.

Asaduzzaman Noor, the former Minister of Cultural Affairs of Bangladesh, Vice Chairman of Asiatic 360, and a legendary veteran actor himself, also graced the event with his presence. The event also saw the trailer of the upcoming venture being unveiled. All these shows will be available to ZEE5 Global subscribers in over 190 countries.

Mainkar Chipay, directed by internationally acclaimed young film maker Abrar Athar, is a situational thriller comedy which will see Afran Nisho, Sariful Razz and Shamol Mawla working together for the first time. Shot in a minimalist format, this is an edgy thriller which sees a cop, a drug dealer and a drug addict caught in a situation inside a car. The shooting of the film was done with strict adherence to all the lockdown guidelines. This will be the first project for Abrar since Koli 2.0. The film is set to release on November 9 and will mark the beginning of ZEE5's Bangladeshi Original Content chapter.

"We're super excited to shoot the first Bangladeshi original on Zee 5. The film was shot in record time and we wrote the script in a way that didn't require a large crew or a lot of equipment. It's a crime thriller comedy and we really hope people have as much fun watching it as we did making it." said Director Abrar Athar.

Among other projects, notable Bangladeshi screenwriter and film maker Shihab Shaheen is set to commence shoot on October 28 for his new film and second ZEE5 Original title Jodi, Kintu Tobuo…, a romantic comedy starring Ziaul Faruq Apurba and Nusraat Faria, while another national award-winning young director Anam Biswas will be working on "What the Fry?" starring Bidya Sinha Mim. Also part of the line-up will be Tanim Noor and Krishnendu Chattopadhyay's (with Parthe Sarkar as an associate director) Contract, a web series starring Arifin Shuvoo, Chanchal Chowdhury, Zakia Bari Mamo and Iresh Zaker. The Originals are being produced in partnership with local content agency Good Company Limited – An Asiatic 360 Content Initiative.