Zee TV brings comedy non-fiction, 'Gangs of Hasseepur'

From April 26, the show will be aired every Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises' flagship Hindi general entertainment channel, Zee TV, is all set to get reality humour to its television audience with 'Gangs of Hasseepur'.

The channel is terming the show a first-of-its-kind 'variety' comedy show as it will have segments including Hasya Kavi Sammelan, stand-up comedy and chat.

Launching on April 26, the show will be aired every Saturday and Sunday at 8 pm.

Zee TV has brought on-board Dabur Glucose as the title sponsor for the show.

'Gangs of Hasseepur' will feature popular comedians like Raju Shrivastav, Bharti Singh and Suresh Menon, as Mandira Bedi and Tanishaa Mukherjee step in as the 'Hasseepur ki Haseenayein', adding to the glamour quotient of the gang.

Ragini Khanna will be seen as the host of the show that will showcase "rib-tickling" impersonations of famous personalities and spoofs on topical issues that affect human life.

Namit Sharma, programming head, Zee TV says that the idea behind the show is to reflect what's happening in the country and humour is the best way. "The whole show is meant to have fun. The line of the show is 'Jo cheezein aapko rulati thi, wohi aaj hasaayengi'. Everything that is a pain point for the country is fodder for humour on the show. It's a variety show with different styles of comedy. It's election-related with issues like inflation and lack of trust in politicians forming the basis of humour."

Comedy veteran Pankaj Saraswat who is co-producing the show with Zee's in-house production arm Essel Vision adds, "Gangs of Hasseepur is a melting pot of diverse styles of humour presented by different types of comedians. In addition to stand-up heavyweights like Suresh and Raju, the show will feature some of the finest stand-up talent from across the country. It's an open platform for celebrating different styles of comedy that Indian television hasn't experienced yet."

The show will compete with Colors' Mission Sapne on Sundays as it will compete with special events and movies on other Hindi GECs.

It's the IPL season and hence it will also have to fight the property for eyeballs. Says Sapangeet Rajwant, VP, marketing, Zee, "Gangs of Hasseepur will bring a variety of comedy for the audience as it includes interesting segments giving a new flavour to the show."

The show will be promoted on Zee Network as the channel also plans to occupy slots on news channels for promotion. "We are mapping IPL days and how the show can be promoted on news channels during those days. We thought it's counter to the IPL as it will get a weekend flavour and male audiences to the channel as well," Rajwant adds.

Zee TV will tie up with a couple of radio stations too, in order to promote the show through integrations. The medium is a good fit for the show as one can also air the gags to the listeners getting them to watch the show.