Beginning with Thunivu, Zee Studios bets big on South films

South Indian films have performed well at the pan-India box office in the past two years. This has led big production houses from the North to produce films with bankable southern stars. In fact, Zee Studios has decided to go all out and bet big on regional, especially South Indian cinema, in the coming years.

As per reports, Zee Studios plans to release 26 films in 2023 alone, across languages. It will release these in theatres or go in for direct-to-digital mode. These films will be completely produced by the production house or co-produced along with others.

The first big ticket film produced by Zee Studios in Tamil will be H Vinoth’s Thunivu starring Ajith Kumar. It launches during the Pongal weekend. Its trailer revolving around a bank heist was released recently and received a massive response.

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The second Tamil film which will hit the screens this year is Muthaiya’s Kather Basha Endra Muthuramalingam, starring Arya. The makers released the first look of the film, which saw Arya sitting on a chair wearing a black shirt and lungi in a rugged avatar. What caught the attention of fans was the backdrop which had a drawing of superstar Rajinikanth from the 1995 film Baasha. The film is touted to be a rural mass-action entertainer.

Zee Studios claimed that Kather Basha Endra Muthuramalingam will be a landmark film in Arya’s career.

The production house is also experimenting big with a silent film titled Gandhi Talks. The film is directed by Kishore P Belekar and stars Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead. It will have music composed by none other AR Rahman. The dark comedy has an interesting take on currency notes and what they mean to different people in India.

Zee Studios is venturing into Malayalam cinema in a film with Dulquer Salmaan in the lead. Directed by Abhilash Joshiy, it is titled King of Kotha. The movie is touted to be a raw action thriller. Interestingly, Dulquer will co-produce the film.

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Zee Studios is also experimenting big on a silent film titled Gandhi Talks. The film is being directed by Kishore P Belekar and stars Vijay Sethupathi, Arvind Swamy and Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead. This silent film will have music composed by none other AR Rahman. The dark comedy has an interesting take on currency notes and what they mean to different people in India. The makers have even released a small glimpse of the film recently.

As per reports, Dulquer, often seen in boy-next-door roles, will essay a never-before-seen avatar. While Aishwarya Lekshmi plays the female lead, Samantha Prabhu is expected to appear in a cameo. The pan-India film will be released in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

Kannada films also figure in this loop as the production house is banking big on a Kannada movie starring Jaggesh. His next film, Ranganayaka, directed by Guruprasad, is expected to be a big-budget one. The duo has delivered some blockbuster hits. The film is a political satire and the announcement video had garnered a lot of attention.

Zee Studios has some big films lined up in Hindi as well. Amit Sharma’s long-awaited soccer epic Maidaan, starring Ajay Devgn, is due in February, Farhad Samji’s action-comedy Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, starring superstar Salman Khan, is due in April during the Eid festival season and Gadar 2, a sequel to Anil Sharma’s 2001 blockbuster Gadar, starring Sunny Deol, will too hit the screens this year.

The production house has done well in Marathi and is exploring Punjabi cinema as well.

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As per a report, Zee Studios chief business officer Shariq Patel said they were already a leader in Marathi films and have added Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Punjabi into the regional mix.  Zee Studios also co-produced the recently released Kannada film Vedha starring Shiva Rajkumar.

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