ZEE5 hosts success meet to celebrate blockbuster response for Republic, Oka Chinna Family Story

ZEE5 has well and truly upped the ante when it comes to aggressively marketing their OTT releases in the recent past, and the results are certainly proof of their stellar efforts. In a first-of-its-kind event, ZEE5 held a success meet to commemorate the terrific response to their Telugu web show Oka Chinna Family Story and Sai Dharam Tej, Aishwarya Rajesh starrer Republic. While the political drama Republic is directed by Deva Katta, Oka Chinna Family Story (OCFS) starring Sangeeth Shoban, Simran Sharma, Naresh, Tulasi, is directed by Mahesh Uppala. 

Niharika Konidela, the producer of Oka Chinna Family Story, shared that she herself was a big fan of Deva Katta's Republic and that it was an honest movie with a superb climax. She also went onto express her interest to produce hard-hitting films/shows in the future and maintains that she would only accept scripts that pique her interest as a viewer. "ZEE5 is very particular its content and I am quite happy that my previous outings like Muddapappu Avakai and Nanna Kuchi are also streaming on the platform." She credited the director of OCFS, Mahesh Uppala for the clarity in his execution.

Director Deva Katta, who has been branded as a political drama-specialist for a major part of his career, stated his desire to try out family stories and that he has 2-3 scripts from the genre in his kitty. He admitted that he couldn't make his first film Vennela perfectly and that the industry only started expecting films like Prasthanam after a certain time.  

Talking about Republic's response on OTT, the filmmaker said that he was always confident about its content, reminding crowds about the success of films like Prathighatana and Repati Pourulu. "Every scene and dialogue in Republic has triggered conversations. This film was born from deeply-felt disturbances in society. I haven't finalised my next film yet," Deva Katta mentioned. He felt that a certain section of the audience has distanced itself from films lately and opined filmmakers should take the blame for that.

The Vice-President of Telugu original content (ZEE5) Padma Kasturirangan told that the platform was in a dilemma as to which one between 'Republic' and 'OCFS' should be released first. She conveyed her gratitude to audiences for making both Republic, Oka Chinna Family Story, blockbusters on ZEE5 and credited the makers for their efforts. Prasad Nimmakayala (Vice-President-Telugu Movies at ZEE Studios), director Mahesh Uppala and Lloyd Xavier (Marketing Director at ZEE5) were also part of the event.