Zee Studios will collaborate with filmmakers Abhishek Sharma (Tere Bin Laden, Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran), Sajid Samji (Entertainment, Housefull 3), Shree Narayan Singh (Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Batti Gul Meter Chalu) and choreographer-turned director Bosco Martis in 2019, the production house announced on Monday. The films that are being developed currently include a “real life-inspired” drama, quirky romantic comedy, a family entertainer and a dance film. All the projects are currently in the development stage and casting will begin shortly, the studio said in a press release.
“We had a good run with Dhadak and Parmanu in 2018 and are gearing up for our line-up for 2019,” Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios, said in a press note. “So far, we have been co-producing all our films with partners; while we will continue to partner with select production houses and directors, we want to challenge ourselves creatively and back projects from an early development stage. The focus is on creating interesting, innovative, diverse content across genres and languages. These in-house productions, will also allow us to own 100% of the IPs.”
The studio is currently awaiting the release of the historical epic Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi on January 25. Among the other films supported by Zee this year are Akshay Kumar’s Kesari and Good News, both of which have been co-produced with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions. Zee Studios will also produce Sunny Deol’s directorial project Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, which will launch his son Karan Deol.