Zee Studios has signed on Abhishek Sharma, Bosco Martis, Sajid Samji and Shree Narayan Singh to add to a growing list of ventures for 2019. The studio is already producing Kangana Ranaut’s directorial debut, Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, on 25 January 2019.
The studio has now signed on Sharma, director of Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran (2018) and the upcoming Zoya Factor (2019). The filmmaker joins choreographer Bosco Martis, who was announced as turning director back in 2016. It seems like Martis now has Zee Studios backing him for his musical dance film.
In addition, the production house has also signed on Shree Narayan Singh [Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017), Batti Gul Meter Chalu (2018)] and Sajid Samji [Housefull3 (2016)].
The studio has confirmed that the stories are in various stages of development, and casting will soon begin for the projects.
Shariq Patel, CEO, Zee Studios said, “We had a good run with Dhadak and Parmanu in 2018 and are gearing up for our line-up for 2019. 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. We look forward to an exciting year ahead.”
In addition to these four films, the studio will also release Good News featuring Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor, as well as Kesari, featuring Akshay and Parineeti Chopra lined up for 2019. Both films have been produced by Dharma Productions. The studio will also release Sunny Deol directed Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, which will mark the debut of his son, Karan Deol in 2019.