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    Zee Studios CBO speaks on 7 wins at National Film Awards, says will invest this year in stories that transcend boundaries

    Synopsis

    Kangana Ranaut starrer 'Manikarnika', for which she won the 'Best Actress', was backed by Zee Studios.

    zeecbo
    Shariq Patel, CBO, Zee Studios, speaks about the big win, and shares the roadmap for the year ahead.
    Zee Studios has won seven National Film Awards this year across categories and for films in different languages and genres. Zee Studios had backed Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, for which Kangana Ranaut won the ‘Best Actress’ award. The Marathi film Anandi Gopal won awards for ‘Best Film on Social Issues’ and ‘Best Production Design’, with Sunil Nigvekar and Nilesh Wagh claiming the honour for the latter. Singer B Praak’s rendition of ‘Teri Mitti’ from Kesari won him the ‘Best Male Playback Singer’ award.

    Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri won for ‘Best Screenplay’, while his wife Pallavi Joshi won ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for The Tashkent Files. The ‘Best Haryanvi Film’ of the year, Chhoriyan Chhoron Se Kam Nahi Hoti, was also backed by Zee Studios.

    Beaming with pride, Shariq Patel, CBO, Zee Studios, speaks about the big win, and shares the roadmap for the year ahead:

    Q. Zee Studios’ films in Hindi, Marathi and Haryanvi won National Awards in different categories. That must have called for a celebration. We are overjoyed and extremely humbled with these wins.

    Our studio’s work has been acknowledged at the highest level. Anandi Gopal, Manikarnika, The Tashkent Files and Chhoriyan Chhoron se Kam Nahi Hoti have all made us proud. It makes us believe that maybe we are selecting the right films to partner — the films that are finding resonance with audiences and the fraternity.

    Q. With seven National Awards this year, will the studio be very choosy about what it bankrolls in the future?

    We have always followed a multilanguage strategy. We believe in creating great commercial content with a promising story at the core, and with the right mix of talent. We have been tapping the pulse of the audience, keeping this as our benchmark across languages for years. We will invest in stories that transcend boundaries. Awards are never the starting point of any project we work on. When a film turns out well, it finds a resonance with the audience.

    Q. You have worked with talented actors in the projects that won the awards. Will you be collaborating with them for your future projects too?

    We’re proud to partner with the right mix of artistes. Kangana, Manoj [Bajpayee] and Dhanush are fantastic actors. Manoj worked with us for Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari and is now a part of the cast of our film, Silence. Thalaivi’s trailer, too, has won her [Kangana] a lot of praise. And we’re just getting started. In the next 12 months, we will release about 25-30 films across languages.

    Q. Will the studio be bringing out more films on the big screen, given that the audience is still warming to the idea of going to the cinemas again?

    I support films like Roohi and Mumbai Saga, which opted for theatrical runs. It is easy to go direct-to-digital and pocket the money and not worry about the box office. I take pride in the fact that we started this trend with Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari. We have to ensure that as content creators, we stand by the theatres in this hour of need. Vaccination drives have made us all hopeful, but planning a film’s release remains a challenge today. We can only react to a situation as it unfolds. So, our plans will also change depending on where we are at a given time.

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