Zee Studios

Zee Studios is an Indian entertainment company that specializes in film, streaming, and television, content development and production. It also specializes in film marketing and distribution. It is based in Mumbai, India, and it was established in 2012 as the content engine for Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited.

Festivals

 * Aatmapamphlet, has been selected for the generation 14+ competition at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival.
 * Manoj Bajpayee starrer, Joram was officially selected at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2023.
 * Brown, starring Karisma Kapoor is the only Indian web series to be premiered at the Berlinale Market Selects 2023.
 * Yami Gautam starrer Lost had its Asian premiere at the International Film Festival of India. It was also selected as the opening film at Chicago South Asian Film Festival and the closing film at the Atlanta Film Festival.
 * Vaalvi won Best Feature Film at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival.

History
Zee Studios was founded in 2012 and was formerly known as Essel Vision Productions. Before the establishment of Zee Studios, films were produced under the name Zee Telefilms. Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, released in 2001, directed by Anil Sharma and starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, was one of the first films produced by Zee Telefilms. The film was declared an All-Time Blockbuster by Box Office India and ranked among the top 3 Indian films in all-time highest footfalls since the 1990s.

2015–2020
The first-ever film produced under the banner of Zee Studios was Sanjay Gupta’s thriller suspense Jazbaa in the year 2015, which starred Aishwarya Rai Bachchan alongside Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azmi. For her performance in the film, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the Stardust Award for Power-Packed Performance of the Year (2015).

In the same year (2015), Zee Studios forayed into regional cinema with a Marathi film, Katyar Kaljat Ghusali, an epic musical drama. It starred Shankar Mahadevan, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Subodh Bhave, Pushkar Shrotri, Mrunmayee Deshpande and Amruta Khanvilkar in the lead roles. The film marked the directorial debut of Subodh Bhave, the theatrical acting debut of Shankar Mahadevan, and Sakshi Tanwar's Marathi film debut. The critics regarded the film as a rich treasure of music and was also a huge success at the box office. The film won the National Award for Best Male Playback Singer (Mahesh Kale). Katyar Kaljat Ghusali was selected to be screened at the 46th International Film Festival of India in Goa and was considered for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Fellini medal that year.

In 2016 the company produced Natsamrat starring Nana Patekar and Medha Manjrekar, which portrayed a tragic story of a stage actor. In the same year, the studio also released the Marathi-language romantic tragedy film Sairat, directed and produced by Nagraj Manjule. It was lauded by media outlets such as The Hindu, The Wire, HuffPost, The Quint, and more, and highly appreciated by critics. For the first time in the history of the Marathi film industry, three songs for the film were recorded at the Sony Scoring Stage in Los Angeles. The production included 66 instrumentalists at an expenditure of over Rs. 75 lakhs. Sairat 's music went on to become a sensation throughout the country after the release of the film. The film received several accolades both regionally and nationally, including 11 awards at the 2017 Filmfare Marathi Awards. It won Best Film, Best Director (Nagraj Manjule), Best Actress (Rinku Rajguru), and Best Music Album at Filmfare. Rinku Rajguru and Akash Thosar won in the best debut female and male categories, respectively. The film also premiered at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation. Rajguru received the National Film Award – Special Mention at the 63rd National Film Awards. Sairat is the highest-grossing Marathi movie to date.

The film remade in several languages, including Manasu Mallige (2017) in Kannada, Channa Mereya (2017) in Punjabi, Laila O Laila (2017) in Odia, Noor Jahaan (2018) in Bengali, and Dhadak (2018) in Hindi.

After that (2016), Zee Studios released Rustom, a crime thriller starring Akshay Kumar and Ileana D'Cruz. The movie became the fourth highest-grossing Hindi film and the fifth highest-grossing Indian film of 2016. The film also won a National Award in the Best Actor category.

In the following year, Zee Studios witnessed success with its Marathi features; Ti Saddhya Kay Karte, a Marathi-language romantic drama directed by Satish Rajwade. Chi Va Chi Sau Ka, a Marathi-language comedy-drama, ran for over 100 days in many Maharashtra cities. Faster Fene, produced by Riteish Deshmukh, Genelia Deshmukh, and Mangesh Kulkarni and starring Girish Kulkarni, was another Marathi language film co-produced by the company that did well in Maharashtra.

In its Hindi line-up, the studio released Mom, starring Sridevi in the lead role, which received rave reviews from critics. In just 17 days of box office revenue, it joined PK and Bajrangi Bhaijaan in the ₹100 crore league in China. Released in four languages, the movie has also received a number of honors and awards, including national awards for Best Actress (Sridevi) and Best Background Music (A. R. Rahman) and IIFA awards for Best Actress (Sridevi) and Best Supporting Actor (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

In October 2017, the company released a musical drama, Secret Superstar, starring Aamir Khan and Zaira Wasim, in 1,100 theatres and on 28,401 screens worldwide, with 1090 screens overseas. Soon after its release, the film went on to become one of the most profitable films of all time. The film is also the highest-grossing Indian film featuring a female protagonist, the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2017, the seventh-highest-grossing Indian film worldwide, and the second-highest-grossing Indian film overseas. Overall the film won three Filmfare Awards, including Best Actress (Critics) for Zaira Wasim, Best Supporting Actress for Vij, and Best Playback Singer (Female) for Meghna Mishra. Zaira Wasim also won the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement for her performance in the film. The company also released Qarib Qarib Singlle the same year starring Irrfan Khan and debuting in Hindi Cinema, Malayalam actress Parvathy Thiruvothu, which received favorable reviews from critics.

Raees, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, made 2017 a year of success for Zee Studios International, earning 5 nominations at the 63rd Filmfare Awards, including Best Actor in a leading role for Shah Rukh Khan.

Meanwhile, owing to the rise of over-the-top, subscription-based media services, Zee Entertainment launched its video streaming service on February 14, 2018. ZEE5 would use this to stream all Zee Entertainment content, from films to shows.

Zee Studios commenced the year 2018 by releasing the Marathi comedy-drama, Gulabjaam, which performed averagely in the cinemas and went on to stream on ZEE5. The company also produced Beyond the Clouds, which was the grown-up version of Majid Majidi's previously directed film, Children of Heaven (1997).

The first look of the film was launched at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival and the second one at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. The movie was released in 2 phases; it was released overseas in 2017, premiering at the 2017 BFI London Film Festival, the 22nd Busan International Film Festival, the 14th Dubai International Film Festival, the 5th International Bosphorus Film Festival, the 29th Palm Springs International Film Festival, and the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), while the Indian theatrical release took place on April 20, 2018.

The studio also produced Dhadak, Hindi-language remake of Sairat, which became a commercial hit, introducing two actors, Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor. Then came Paltan, which received positive reviews from the families of the soldiers, but the audience and critics found the film's execution largely ineffective for a war film and an extremely long runtime.

Two successes for Zee Studios came in the middle of the year: one from Veere Di Wedding, which emerged as the fifth-highest-grossing Hindi film of the year and the highest for a film featuring female leads. The other was Raazi, which became the second commercially successful film with a female lead to join the ₹ 100 crore club in India. At the 64th Filmfare Awards, Raazi received 15 nominations and won 5 awards, including Best Film, Best Director (Meghna Gulzar), and Best Actress (Alia Bhatt).

Mulk, a legal drama released later that year, received positive reviews and won a Filmfare Award in the category of ‘Best Story’. Zee Studios also distributed Gold, a period sports film starring Akshay Kumar, with a budget of ₹ 61 crores, which ended up crossing the ₹ 100 crore mark at the box office.

Zee Studios produced a wide range of films in 2019 Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi performed well both nationally and internationally and became one of the highest-grossing women-centric films in India. Kangana Ranaut's portrayal of Rani Lakshmi Bai in the film garnered critical acclaim, winning her the National Film Award for Best Actress at the 67th National Film Awards. The film was selected for the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and was screened at the Kashi Indian International Film Festival, Itanagar International Film Festival, and at the Indian Embassy in Lebanon under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav event.

The company also produced the romantic comedy-drama, Kala Shah Kala in Punjabi. It was well-received and rapidly rose to commercial success. It currently ranks as the 21st-highest-earning Punjabi movie. Kesari was another hit film produced and distributed internationally by the company. The film has a National Award, won for the Best Male Playback Singer (B Praak) for the song "Teri Mitti".

Throughout the year, the studio produced films like Rampaat, Pailwaan (Hindi dubbed), and Nerkonda Paarvai, which performed commercially well. They also produced a film named, The Tashkent Files, a thriller about the death of former Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The film won two National awards, including Best Dialogues (Vivek Agnihotri) and Best Supporting Actress (Pallavi Joshi).

Another well-received film was Anubhav Sinha's directorial, Article 15, which was the opening film for the 10th edition of the London Indian Film Festival and has won 3 Filmfare Awards - Best Film Critic (Anubhav Sinha), Best Actor Critic (Ayushmann Khurrana) and Best Story (Anubhav Sinha and Gaurav Solanki). At the end of the year, the studio came out with the lighthearted comedy-drama Good Newwz which became the 5th highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2019.

In 2020, Zee Studios released most of its films on OTT, due to the safety measures for the then-ongoing pandemic, COVID-19. It included movies like Hacked, Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship, Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Khaali Peeli, and Solo Brathuke So Better.

2021–present
2021 was the year when Zee Studios decided to deliberately invest in more regional cinema. The company distributed one Telugu political drama, Republic, and a Kannada-language crime thriller film Drishya 2, which was a remake of the 2021 Malayalam film Drishyam 2 and was regarded as one of the important movies in its line-up that attracted family audiences. The company also produced three Punjabi-language films, namely Qismat 2, Puaada, and Fuffad Ji, and all three were hit. Among the three films, Qismat 2 was a sleeper hit that became one of the 15 highest- grossing Punjabi films of all time. The year gave Zee Studios some good releases, including well-performing Thalaivii, a film based on the life of Indian actress-politician J. Jayalalithaa and Antim: The Final Truth and, Radhe, starring Salman Khan. Later, it was released on ZEE5 and was one of the most-watched OTT films on the day of its release, with 4.2 million views. The company also produced Sanak, which was released digitally on 15 October 2021, on Disney+ Hotstar.

2022 was a very successful year for Zee Studios. The year began with The Kashmir Files, directed by Vivek Agnihotri, which became one of the most successful Hindi films of all time, and the 3rd highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in India, despite receiving mixed reviews. The film was also an official selection at the 53rd International Film Festival of India and was shortlisted for the prestigious Switzerland International Film Festival. Along with the recognitions at the film festivals, The Kashmir Files has also garnered many awards, including the Lions Gold Award for Extraordinary Performance of the Year (Darshan Kumaar) and the News18 REEL Movie Award for Extraordinary Performance of the Year (Anupam Kher). The Kashmir Files was re-released in 2023 in theatres on popular demand after a massive success in 2022.

In 2022, the company collaborated with Annapurna Studios to produce the Telugu-language supernatural action drama Bangarraju, directed by Kalyan Krishna. It opened to mixed reviews, mostly positive, and was declared a success at the box office. The company also produced a Tamil language action thriller, Valimai, that crossed the 100-crore mark in the Indian market. The studio also produced and distributed Rashtra Kavach Om, which was in theatres and then subsequently released on ZEE5.

Raksha Bandhan, directed by Aanand L. Rai and starring Akshay Kumar and Bhumi Pednekar, received mixed reviews from critics but remained commercially unsuccessful. On the other hand, Rocket Gang, produced by Zee Studios, was a poor performer, critically and commercially. But Punjabi films like - Saunkan Saunkne, Main Viyah Nahi Karona Tere Naal, Ghund Kadh Le Ni Sohreyan Da Pind Aa Gaya, and Teri Meri Gal Ban Gayi - distributed by the company performed quite well at the box office.

In the same year, the company also distributed a horde of Bollywood movies like- Jhund, Janhit Mein Jaari, Goodbye, and Ram Setu. Zee Studios also distributed two Kannada films- Vikrant Rona and Head Bush and one Marathi film Bhaubali.

The studio wrapped the year with two thrillers - one released in cinemas and another on the OTT. The first was the survival thriller Mili, a remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language film Helen, co-produced by Boney Kapoor. The film received mixed reviews from critics, although garnering praises for Janhvi Kapoor's performance. And the other one was the horror thriller Blurr, starring Taapsee Pannu and Gulshan Devaiah, which was also Taapsee Pannu's first project as a producer.

Zee Studios also produced a Telugu movie, Itlu Maredumilli Prajaneekam and a Kannada film titled Vedha which was the last release of 2022 for us in the South. Vedha was a milestone, marking the 125th film for actor Shiva Rajkumar, and was one of the biggest films of the year for the Kannada industry both in terms of production and reception from the audience. Directed by A Harsha, the film stirred conversations around women's dignity and safety by highlighting a gruesome story of child rape.

Zee Studios started 2023 on a bright note with its new release Lost, starring Yami Gautam, opening at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Manoj Bajpayee starrer Hindi film Joram’s official selection at the 52nd International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), competing at the Big Screen Competition and Film Bazar; Karisma Kapoor starrer Brown’s selection at the Berlinale Market Selects 2023 which was the only series under the category, and Ashish Avinash Bende’s Aatmapamphlet, screening at the prestigious 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Along with this, the company also gave multiple films early in the year which includes, H. Vinoth’s Tamil heist thriller Thunivu, starring Ajith Kumar, followed by Punjabi comedy-drama film, Mitran Da Naa Chalda, directed by Pankaj Batra starring Gippy Grewal, Tania, and Raj Shokar,[76] [77] and a Marathi-language dark comedy thriller, Vaalvi directed by Paresh Mokashi, which won the Best Feature Film at the Chicago South Asian Film Festival.

For 2023, Zee Studios plan to release a massive lineup of 28 titles across languages, featuring some of the best-known names in their respective industries. The most anticipated films include Amit Ravindernath Sharma’s soccer epic Maidaan, starring Ajay Devgn, which is set in the 50s and 60s, aka the Golden Era of Indian football. Farhad Samji’s action-comedy Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, starring Salman Khan, is scheduled for April, the month of Ramadan. Gadar 2, a sequel to Anil Sharma's 2001 blockbuster Gadar, starring Sunny Deol, is also in the works.

In 2023, Zee Studios also produced Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, an Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, starring Alaya F and newcomer Karan Mehta in the lead role. The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Marrakech Film Festival and its Asian premiere at the Hainan Island International Film Festival. Post-release, the film was praised by the audiences. Other Hindi-language highlights include Devashish Makhija’s Joram starring Manoj Bajpayee, Abhinay Deo’s steaming series Brown starring Karishma Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer Haddi, and Vivek Chauhan’s multi-starrer, action homage Baap, starring Sunny Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Mithun Chakraborty and Jackie Shroff in the leading roles. and another Manoj Bajpayee starrer drama Bandaa.

Another 2023 hit, directed by Ashima Chibber, starring Rani Mukerji was Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway, which has surpassed Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan overseas. The film is growing to be an international hit, warming up the box office numbers and taking international audiences by storm. Surpassing Pathaan and PS1, the movie is receiving unprecedented love and is recorded to be one of the highest collections for an Indian film in Norway. It is also one of the biggest Indian releases in the Baltic regions of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The latest release by the studio was a Marathi-language film, Ghar Banduk Biryani, directed by Hemant Awtade and starring Nagraj Manjule in the lead role.

Zee Studios' Tamil-language slate includes Muthaiya's Kather Basha Endra Muthuramalingam, starring Arya; a landmark film and Kishor Pandurang Belekar’s dialogue-free film Gandhi Talks, with music by A. R. Rahman, with Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy and Aditi Rao Hydari.

Ashish Bende’s Aatmapamphlet marked the 1st historical association for a Marathi film that brought together 3 stalwarts- Anand L Rai, Bhushan Kumar and Zee Studios. The film was selected in the Generation 14 plus competition at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival.

Zee Studios is also producing Nayanthara's upcoming project, Nayanthara 75 (running title), with Nilesh Krishnan as the associate director and Thaman S as the music director for the film. Bro, starring Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej, is under production is scheduled to release on July 28, 2023, and will mark the first collaboration of this director-actor duo.

Along with these, Zee Studios has several more upcoming regional language titles include Dulquer Salmaan's Malayalam language King of Kotha, Vikram Patwardhan’s Frame, and Kannada-language film Ranganayaka starring Jaggesh, Telugu-language film Vimanam and Punjabi-language films like Pankaj Batra’s Uchiyan Ne Gallan Tere Yaar Diyan and Godday Godday Chaa, starring Gippy Grewal and Sonam Bajwa, respectively.

Domestic distribution
Zee Studios has a worldwide theatrical distribution network. Some of Zee Studios' major productions include Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, Natsamrat, Sairat, Rustom, and more.

In India, Zee Studios has 6 distribution offices, contributing almost 75% of the India Box Office.

Sairat, a 2016 Marathi romantic tragedy earned over 100 cores at the end of its theatrical run and is the highest-grossing Marathi film to date.

The studio has distributed the biggest blockbuster films of 2019 like Gully Boy, Badla, and Good Newwz.

Another 2019 hit movie, Article 15, received critical acclaim, with praise for its performances, direction, script, and sensitive portrayal of its subject matter, and grossed approximately 100 crores worldwide.

With unique films that challenge the Indian audience, such as Badhaai Do[10] and Jhund[11], Zee Studios adopted strategic distribution, enabling the best possible outcomes. The Tashkent Files – Who Killed Shastri?, which too released in 2019, emerged as a box-office super hit and received two National Film Awards.

During the challenging COVID-19 years, Zee Studios had theatrically released films like Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Antim, Khaali Peeli, and Ka Pae Ranasingam.

In 2022, the studio produced and distributed The Kashmir Files, which grossed ₹340.92 crore (US$43 million) worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing Hindi film of 2022.

Zee Studios released commercial blockbusters such as Manikarnika, Kesari, Bangarraju, Valimai, Vedha, Saunkan Saunkne, Secret Superstar Naal and many more over the years.

As of March 2023, Zee Studios has theatrically distributed over 100 films in 8 different languages. Of these, the most significant release was done across 60 countries.

The recent hit movie, based on an actual case, Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway has become the highest-grossing Bollywood film in Norway. It later became the most-watched South Asian film in Norway with 8356 admits.

The two largest releases for the studio in the recent past are done for the films Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan and The Kashmir Files which were released across 2500 cinemas.

Overseas distribution
The studio is the only Indian studio to have 5 releases in China – Secret Superstar, MOM Beyond The Clouds, Gold, and Hindi Medium.

Secret Superstar starring Aamir Khan is China's second highest-grossing film, collecting over 700 crores INR.

A colossal triumph for the studio was the release of Sridevi’s film, MOM which was produced by Boney Kapoor, Majid Majidi’s Beyond The Clouds starring Ishaan Khattar, and Gold starring Akshay Kumar, produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, all in 2019.

The studio has released one of Akshay Kumar’s biggest hits into the international markets, Good Newwz, grossing over 12mn USD at the International Box Office.

The release of commercial hits such as Hindi Medium, Raazi, Veere Di Wedding, and Dream Girl , have cemented the studio's position as one of the dominant and top Indian film studios in the overseas market. The studios' recent release, Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway, broke records in Norway becoming the highest opening weekend film collecting over 72K USD in a 3-day weekend.