MUMBAI MIRROR (April 15, 2019)

Anil D. Ambani owned Reliance Entertainment’s Big Synergy has teamed up with three exciting filmmakers to create a mega-entertaining web series, Paan Parda Zarda.

Walky Talkies is the joint venture of three successful filmmakers—Mrighdeep Lamba (Fukrey, Fukrey Returns), Gurmmeet Singh (Mirzapur, Inside Edge) and Shilpi Dasgupta (untitled under-production film with Sonakshi Sinha and Badshah).

After garnering accolades for their films and web series, the trio has come together, with Reliance Entertainment’s Big Synergy, to create Paan Parda Zarda—an intoxicating love story set amidst the opium trade barons of Central India, from the arid landscapes of the Maalwa plateau to the princely kingdom of Bhopal.

Reveals Shilpi Dasgupta, “The series brims with extraordinary, real characters—intense pride, devious deceit, violent retribution, but above all, majestic love. Paan Parda Zarda is a sensory overload that will leave audiences numb in its aftermath, much like a hit of the opiate that has been deployed to win wars and change fortunes in Asia for centuries. Indeed, much of the history of our region has been dictated by whosoever has controlled opium.”

“Paan Parda Zarda reflects Big Synergy’s ambition to create path-breaking fiction content. With our current and prospective collaborations with A-List creators in Bollywood and regional markets, we’re all set to entertain viewers with top-notch content,” said Rajiv Bakshi, the CEO of Reliance Entertainment’s Big Synergy.

The upcoming series is being helmed by producer Namit Sharma, who said, “Set against a fresh, unseen milieu, the series has all the elements of an epic tale that straddles human drama, organised crime and political machinations. But at its heart, is a beautiful love story.”

This amazing pairing with the director of Mirzapur leaves no doubt that the audience can expect the most thrilling Indian web series. 

DNA (September 23, 2014)


Says Namit Sharma, Programming Head, Zee TV, “With Dance India Dance, we celebrated dance as an art form. With Dil Se Naachein Indiawaale, we celebrate it as a ‘heart’ form. We’re extremely pleased to partner with Shah Rukh in bringing this proposition alive. The core idea behind the show is to look at dance as a means and an outlet to express all the joy, life, spunk and happiness you have within you. We are not looking for trained dancers who’re perfect with their technique, we’re looking for that contestant who can bring a smile on to people’s faces with their dancing.”

Shah Rukh says that for his upcoming film Happy New Year, he wanted to move away from the conventional format of city tours where they only get to spend a few minutes with the crowd in a mall or a theatre. “This time we wanted to go out there and thank them by entertaining them. When Zee approached us with the concept of a show that celebrates the sheer happiness of dancing as against selecting the most trained and technically sound dancers, it instantly appealed. The concept also holds well with our film. All of us will be performing and judging in this show. The idea is to spread cheer and happiness wherever we all go,” he adds.

All that the dance enthusiasts need to do is send in their happy dancing videos and the shortlisted ones will get an opportunity to showcase their acts in front of the ‘Agents of Happiness’. The show is slated to go on air next month.