Mumbai: Zee Entertainment Enterprise Limited (Zeel) is all set to launch a Bengali movie channel Zee Bangla Cinema, its second offering in the Bengali language space after general entertainment channel (GEC) Zee Bangla.

Zee Bangla Cinema will be launched on 23 September and it will be a pay channel. The Bengali movie channel space currently has only one player in Sony Picture Television?s Sony Aath (Sony Eight), which runs a mix of Bengali movies and international movies dubbed in Bengali.

With over 400 exclusive titles under its belt, Zee Bangla Cinema promises to offer a mixed bag of blockbusters from the golden era to commercial blockbuster and alternative cinema. Outside of movies, the channel will also cover film news, music release, and muhuraats.

Zee Bangla Cinema will telecast Jeet and Nusrat starrer ?Shatru?. Some of the other movie titles which would be aired on Zee Bangla Cinema are Bhooter Bhobishyot, Teen Yaari Kotha, Elar Char Adhyay, Aparajita Tumi, Ajob Prem Ebong, Dutta vs Dutta, Uro Chiti, Fighter, Mouchak, Chaplin, Kagojer Bou, Tokhon Teish, Trishna, Chander Bari, Gorosthane Sabdhan, Patalghar and Banshiwala.

The broadcaster has signed up with most of the leading multi-system operators in West Bengal including WWIL, Den Networks, and Manthan. The channel will also be available on Dish TV, the direct-to-home (DTH) arm of Zeel.

Targeted at Bengalis across all socio economic strata and age groups, the movie channel will focus on the West Bengal market in the initial phase. Outside West Bengal, the channel will also be distributed in New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Jharkhand besides New York.

Zeel MD and CEO Punit Goenka said, "With a strong Bengali audience in India and abroad, the Bangla film market has expanded exponentially. Zee Bangla Cinema?s entry is to tap this growing potential. We are sure that Zee?s pioneering presence in the regional space would be further strengthened with the addition of this new movie channel."

According to Zee Bangla Cinema Business Head Sujay Kutty, Zee Bangla Cinema will act as a one-stop channel for Bangla Cinema.

"There are a huge number of Bengali GEC viewers moving to Hindi movie channel because they do not have a 24 x 7 platform where they can find a cinema in their own language. Top two channels in the Bengali GEC space run cinema only on weekends," Kutty tells Indiantelevision.com.

Kutty believes the launch of Zee Bangla Cinema will spur Bengali movie channel market and will fill in a need gap.

Every year more than 100 movies are produced by the Bengali film industry, says Kutty, out of which only 20 are big ticket movies. The cost of acquiring a movie starts at Rs 2 million.

The unveiling of the channel will be supported by 360 degree marketing campaign. Hand painted larger than life cutouts will be placed in prominent crowded areas of city, urging people to go home and tune into the Zee Bangla Cinema.

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Zee plans to launch Bengali movie channel