Mumbai, May 12 (FN Agency) Actress Sonali Bendre is set to join the world of streaming with “The Broken News”, an upcoming original OTT drama series from Zee5. The show will be directed by Vinay Waikul, who had recently helmed the crime-thriller Netflix series “Aranyak”, and is an adaptation of the British series “Press”. According to the makers, the show follows the story of two rival Mumbai-based news channels – Awaaz Bharati, an independent, ethical news channel, and Josh 24/7 News, which offers sensationalist and invasive journalism and “what transpires between the main characters in their quest for news”. The series is backed by ZEE5 in partnership with BBC Studios India. On Wednesday, the actress took to her official Instagram account and dropped a teaser of the show. Below the teaser the actress captioned “I’m still processing that this is actually happening!! Finally… the ‘news’ is out! “It feels so good to be back on set, back to the creative process, interacting with my co-actors and director… bringing life to a character. I’m so happy to make my OTT debut with @zee5, we’ve done so much together and it feels like family.
I love the concept of this show from the get-go and am so proud of how it’s turned out…. Can’t wait for you all to see it. #The Broken News coming on Zee5.” Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said with “The Broken News”, the team is marking the beginning of a partnership with the reputed content studio to bring “interesting and unique story narratives for our audiences”. “This partnership is in line with ZEE5’s strategy to build a portfolio of unique and compelling content for an enhanced value from the services. We are sure our audiences will enjoy and love it as much as they have loved our content so far. ZEE5 has been working with the best talent in the creative ecosystem to create a riveting slate of originals, in line with our content strategy of keeping the viewers at the centre of the business,” Kalra said in a statement.
On the announcement of the new title, Nimisha Pandey, Chief Content Officer, Hindi Originals, ZEE5 said, “The Broken News is an extremely relevant story for the times we live in. We are glad to partner with BBC Studios India and director Vinay Waikul to bring this story to life. It is a riveting drama depicting the nuances of the media houses and the daily hustle-bustle of a newsroom. The story revolves around the ideological differences of the protagonists, beautifully played by Shriya Pilgaonkar and Jaideep Ahlawat. The story has a strong, contemporary and compelling narrative making it a perfect addition to our content bouquet.” Bendre is known primarily for her hit ’90s films such as ‘Sarfarosh’, ‘Diljale’, and ‘Major Saab’. She was last seen in the 2013 gangster drama ‘Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara!’ in which she had a cameo. The show stars Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar, Indraneil Sengupta, Taaruk Raina, Aakash Khurana and Kiran Kumar.