Airtel and Zee bring the best of Indian theatre to the TV screen

Airtel Digital TV, the DTH arm of Bharti Airtel, and Zee Theatre, the popular theatre segment of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. launched ‘Spotlight’ – a video on demand channel that will air the best of Indian plays by popular theatre groups from across the country.

With this, Airtel’s Digital TV platform with its strong customer base, will offer Indian theatre a wider market reach in India as customers watch their favourite plays from the biggest playwrights come alive right in their homes.

Viewers can watch over 100 plays in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali and English, across a wide variety of genre, ranging from classic, to thriller, to comedy which will be brought to life by renowned artists such as Varun Badola, Sonali Kulkarni, Ira Dubey and Vikram Gokhale. Some of the popular plays that will be available to customers on the new channel are Choker Bali, Ma Retire Hoti Hai, Vaastav, Sakubai and Janpath Kiss.

Richa Kalra, Product Manager – DTH, Bharti Airtel said, “At Airtel, we are always innovating for newer ways to delight out customers. Today, we are excited to add Theatre to our video-on-demand content portfolio and offer a wider genre of entertainment to our customers. With this partnership with Zee, we aim to offer a wider reach for the rich culture of Indian theatre.”

Commenting on the occasion, Shailja Kejriwal, Chief Creative Officer – Special Projects, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. said, “Theatre is our national heritage that is cherished across the country; however, some of our finest and most pertinent plays seldom reach beyond a few cities. At Zee Theatre we aim to bring the most revered and relevant plays to every Indian household. The partnership with Airtel Digital TV further reinforces this desire to celebrate the heritage of Indian theatre.

Spotlight – Asli Manch, Asli Kahaniya will air on channel no 191 as a Subscription based Video on Demand (SVOD) service and will be available to customers for free for the first 10days. Post the trial period, customers will have to pay Rs 75 per month for the channel.