Bengali actor Ankush Hazra will kickstart the new year by making his OTT debut with a detective series Shikarpur where he will star opposite actress Sandipta Sen. The actor, who is a fan of the fictional Bengali detective Eken Babu, plays a quirky sleuth in the series directed by Nirjhar Mitra. In an exclusive conversation with News18.com, the actor talks about his OTT debut and says that the only difference between a web and a film debut is that the former gives one a chance to delve deeper into details.
He also opined that earlier there was a notion that A-listers will not do web shows but now that perception has been shattered. Talking about the same, he said, “There was a time when we thought that A-listers actors will not agree to do web series and it is for other sets of actors who will never get to be a hero. A lot of actors also had the fear of whether they will be a hit in the web space. Now, they are making more noise than A-listers. They are now doing web shows. So the calculation has changed completely and there is no fixed formula now. We are actors and we love to work. We try to grab as many opportunities as we can. It doesn’t matter whether it is TV or the big screen, it is all about doing good work and reaching out to the audience.”
Adding to that, his co-star Sandipta shared, “I used to do back-to-back mega serial earlier. Now, due to the web shows, I am doing, I am getting the chance of playing so many different characters.”
Bengali actor-filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly, who plays a crucial role in the series, also added that the acceptance of regional cinema is growing, thanks to the success of South Indian films. “We have been saying for a long time that Bengali film is not Bengali film, it is an Indian film. It becomes difficult to accept it but thanks to South films, there is acceptance. The story should be told in the language and region where it belongs and then people all over should watch it. When people watch a Japanese film, they don’t do it in Hindi. They will watch it in Japanese.”
Their show Shikarpur is a part of Zee5’s new line of Bengali content which will be released in 2023. The streaming platform plans to release a web series every month, starting with Shikarpur, which will be followed by stories of several genres such as murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, comedy and romance.
Meanwhile, sharing their plan to explore and expand, Mr Samrat Ghosh, Chief Cluster Officer – East, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, who also joined us for a conversation said that they would be delving deeper into the Bengali culture, going forward.
“Talking about the existing show platter, we have adapted from two works of Bengali literature- Feluda and Kantaye Kantaye. But just two novels do not define Bengali culture. There are many more to go. We will keep exploring more from the literature. We will contemporise it to make it more relatable and bring alive the culture of Bengal. But the culture of Bengal is not only limited to the Howrah bridge or red-bordered white sarees. There are many aspects of Bengali culture which are not being explored on screen. This content will resonate with a larger section of the audience and has the potential to travel beyond borders. It is high time that some of the good works of literature that belong to this place be known to the entire world,” he shared.
On the other hand, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India gave a more detailed view of their lineup. He shared, “The power-packed line-up of titles will release starting January with Shikarpur, featuring multiple national-award-winning actor-director Kaushik Ganguly and Ankush Hazra, marking the latter’s first big fiction OTT debut. It will be followed by the rest in the following months. We have a strong slate of movies in the pipeline as well to wow the audiences with the likes of Avijatrik, Hridpindo, Agantuk, Hirokgorer Hire, Antardhaan, Amrapali, and Savings Account already on the platform. We did find demand in this market with the biggest blockbuster Bengali film of 2022, Aparajito – The Undefeated on the platform, which the audiences thoroughly loved. As a consumer-first brand, we will continue to bolster our presence in the eastern market with authentic and meaningful storytelling.”
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