Banaras: Zaid Khan and Sonal Monteiro’s time-loop romance gets TV premiere

The Jayathirtha directorial, which marked the hero’s debut, had released in theatres way back in November 2022. The OTT outing will happen shortly after

Sonal Monteiro is paired with debutant Zaid Khan in the film

Banaras was supposed to be the big-ticket launchpad of Zaid Khan, the son of Karnataka politico Zameer Ahmed Khan. Directed by Jayathirtha and released as a pan-India film, it did not evince much interest in audiences, even though, there was positive word of mouth and favourable reviews. This was, after all, a film by the man who has made movies like Olave Mandara, Tony and Bell Bottom, among others.

In the film, Zaid played Siddharth, a 20-year-old college student, whose attempt to prank Dhani (Sonal Monteiro) goes cruelly wrong, causing her to leave town and find a home in Banaras. Overwhelmed with guilt, Siddharth sets out behind Dhani to seek forgiveness and in these pursuits, he encounters a life-changing experience which involves him inadvertently shuffling back and forth in time. Whether Siddharth can break the spell and find what his heart is truly after forms the crux of the movie, which was shot extensively across spell-binding locations in Banaras.

Read our review: Banaras movie review: Jayathirtha's promising time loop saga is meandering, indecisive

Produced by Tilakraj Ballal under the banner of NK Productions, Banaras also starred Sujay Shastry, Devaraj, Achyuth Kumar, Sapna Raj and Barkath Ali, among others. With Banaras, Zaid joined the long list of politician sons in Kannada cinema, which includes the likes of Nikhil Kumar (HD Kumaraswamy), Anup Revanna (HM Revanna), Kireeti (G Janardhan Reddy), Sachin (Cheluvarayaswamy), Manoj (Kumaraswamy), among others.

In the months since its release, there’s been no word on its satellite or digital partner, until now, that is. Turns out Zee Network has picked up the rights and is, interestingly, bringing Banaras to TV first. The film will have its television premiere on Zee Kannada on April 30 at 3 pm. While the streaming date has not been announced, it is being said that it will be available on Zee5 Kannada shortly after the TV broadcast.

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