The highlight of the evening was an address by broadcast pioneer Subhash Chandra, who launched Zee TV as India's first hindi-language cable channel in 1992.
Mumbai-based media and entertainment company Zee Entertainment Enterprises celebrated 25 years of being in the broadcast industry with a gala dinner at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Dubai. The event was graced by His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Cabinet Minister and Minister of Tolerance in the UAE.
Speaking on the occasion, HH said: We who live and work in this country are honoured that ZEE is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary in the United Arab Emirates and the great city of Dubai. That we in the UAE all know ZEE testifies to its international presence… This is an anniversary of global significance. Subhash Chandra and his team have merited the gratitude of India and the world.”
Veteran Indian actor and MC for the event, Kabir Bedi recounted the story of Zee from its early days as the first Hindi-language cable channel in India in 1992. The Zee network, he said now calls “173 countries home, speaks 19 different languages and entertains more than 1.3 billion people everyday”.
The highlight of the evening was an address by founder and chairman Subhash Chandra who recalled the early challenges of securing transponder space for his yet-to-be launched satellite TV channel, to the various milestones achieved by the channel.
“25 years seems like yesterday if I remember the good things, but seems like a 100 when I think of the more difficult times. I am happy to inform you that Zee is launching its digital arm shortly, and I know you will see the potential in it. I am grateful to all of you for joining us in the celebration of these 25 years,” Chandra stated.
Speaking further about Zee’s digital arm, Amit Goenka, CEO of International Broadcast Business at ZEEL, commented: We have a lot of exciting plans to develop content internationally. Our first Arabic production, which is a Zee TV fiction format, will be ready in the next couple of months. I am excited for the launch of our global digital platform, which will enable us to entertain millions of new viewers along with our existing audience.
In a special one-on-one discussion between Mira Nair and Kabir Bedi, the filmmaker cited stories from her experience of filming people from different cultures. Nair mentioned that by using films as a platform, not only was she able to understand diversity herself, but wanted to make sure this was reflected on her audiences too.
Dancers from the long-running reality dance show on Zee TV, Dance India Dance regaled the audience with some acrobatic Bollywood-style dances. The evening came to a sublime end with a scintillating performance by Niladri Kumar on the electric Sitar accompanied by Gino Banks on the drums, Pandit Vijay Ghate on the tabla and Agnelo Fernandes on the sequencer.
The evening also brought together His Excellency Navdeep Singh Suri, Indian Ambassador to the UAE and His Excellency Vipul, the Consul General of India in UAE.
In the spirit of the union between Zee and UAE, Suri said: When I was Ambassador of Egypt, I got into Zee Aflam and it struck me what an enormous impact Zee had internationally. Zee is a source of information and content that makes it the worlds largest concentration of Indian nationals.
Guests included business leaders, advertising and distribution partners from the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. Key partners of Zee were also felicitated by Dr. Chandra and Amit Goenka, CEO, International Business on the occasion.
