At this point, there is no arguing that Nigeria has a whirlwind romance with Indian cinema and soaps. Of course we’ve always had a healthy love for everything Bollywood, but we’ve only been able to sate that thirst with the occasional trickle of films and series often dubbed in Hindi  and subtitled in English. Then the Zee Entertainment network came to Nigeria with Zee World, the continent’s first Indian content channel that was entirely dubbed over in English, opening up the market to the near 600 million English speaking Africans on the continent. One interesting thing Zee Entertainment has done is let the audience here determine the kind of content they acquire for the continent and after much deliberation a new schedule of shows have been agreed on for 2018. We got an early sneak peek and here they are.

Bride with Benefits (April 2018)

Bride with Benefits takes on one of India (and Nigeria’s) most prevalent cinema tropes, the trope of ancient cultural practices like dowries and how they affect contemporary relationships. The show revolves around a rich but greedy family down on its luck who woo and marry an independent career woman for their son in the hopes that her career and the financial and social benefits its provides her will serve as a sort of contemporary dowry to lift the family out of poverty. Payal, the bride in Bride With Benefits has to deal with the highs-lows, trials-tribulations and the journey of being a bride with a modern dowry.

Will Payal find happiness living the life of a Bride with benefits? Will Payal be able to free herself and be able to work independently from her Dowry responsibility? Don’t miss this culturally challenging series, coming first to Zee World in Autumn 2018.

King of Hearts Season 14 (May 2018)

King of Hearts follows Karan, whose parents Sid and Roshni die when he is still a child. He falls for Mahi, the step daughter of the show’s arch enemy Payal stirring up old enmities that threaten to ruin the new couple’s dreams of having a happy future.

Payal’s evil schemes have not ended, instead, she has her hands in more pies than before. Karan’s grandfather returns, to make everything right, as Karan has been brought up in the wrong family after his parents’ death.
Will Karan and Mahi’s love prove to be as strong as that of Sid and Roshni? Will Payal finally be exposed for what she is?

My Golden Home (June 2018)

My Golden home is a class tale that explores the Indian culture of cross generational households, Indian royalty and families rivalries in a fresh and exciting way. The story revolves around Swarn Bhawan (The House of Gold) an palatial ancestral home gilded entirely in gold. Thankur Uday Pratab Singh’s family is the latest in the lineage of Singhs to inherit the house and his wife Chandra, daughters Abha and Lata and son Prakash, move in with him.

An unexpected twist sees Uday  betrayed and swindled into  bankruptcy, resulting in the family having to put the Mansion into an auction. The Mansion is then bought by his arch-rival lawyer Jagmohan Prasad. Generational feuds between the two families come into play, as Jagmohan’s father used to be a driver for Uday’s father, and on one specific day Uday Senior insulted Prasad senior, therefore Jagmohan always held a grudge against the Singh family and wanted revenge for what they did to his father.

Oblivious to the facts Karan Prasad who is Jagmohan’s youngest son falls in love with Abha Singh which fuels the enmity of the two families. The young couple goes through challenges in their marriage and their quest to unite the family but eventually wins their hearts.

In their journey, we witness the strength of family love and yet the betrayal of the other family members who stand with the opposition to gain money and love. The truth always prospers and we see that in the courage and sheer will of Abha in defeating the enemies who will to take away Swarn Bhawan and try to tear the family apart. Though tried and tested Abha stands firm in instilled values, honesty and prayer and continues to fight-the-good-fight.

Begusarai (July 2018)

Begusarai is the land of Phulan Thakur and his family. Begusarai is set in the district of Bihar, India where power, wealth and respect are earned through bloodshed and gunfights. As the leader of the family, Phulan is responsible for picking the heir to his throne, but this is not a simple task as the family is fragmented. With trouble times approaching, Phulan aims to unite the family to ensure peace prevails amongst the family and across the land. Introducing Bhindya, a beautiful and renowned dancer who has evil intentions towards the Thakur family, she aims to manipulate her way into the trust of the family where she can cause them to fragment further. Her goal is to one day take over the reins of the Family and become the newest ruler of Begusarai herself.
Will Phulan find a worthy candidate to be the new ruler of Begusarai? Will Bhindiya get her way in destroying the Thakur family?

Iron Lady (July 2018)

Indira Sharma is a young woman living with her family in the same house. After her father, Inder Sharma, left the family for another woman, Indira is forced as the only working member of her family, to shoulder all the responsibilities involved in taking care of her family. Stress and family pressure turn her into the “Iron Lady”.
To make more money Indira rents out her upper room to a new tenant called Rishi Kumar. However, as the story progresses Rishi Kumar turns out to be much more than your usual tenant. From saving Indira’s sister, Mandira from all sorts of trouble to constantly fighting Indira’s battles with her manipulative father, Inder, as well as helping Indira out personally; Rishi’s charming light-hearted personality slowly breaks through Indira’s cold and stern demeanour and she gradually begins to fall in love with Rishi. However, as it turns out, Rishi is responsible for running over Indira’s other brother, Viren, in a drunken driving incident, which crippled Viren. He has only come into the Sharma House and Indira’s life looking for redemption. However, Rishi also falls in love with Indira, but what will become of this love story once all the truth comes to light?

Twist of Fate Season 2 (September 2018)

Everybody’s favourite TV drama is back with their second season, continuing the cliffhanger that left viewers guessing what happened to our fun-loving rockstar Abhi and the ever determined, strong-willed Pragya. Will they finally get the love they deserve or will Abhi’s evil sister Aliya gets what she wants and remove Pragya for good?

Amma (October 2018)

This is the story about Zeenat (Amma), who was deserted by her husband and son, due to her strong will and patriotism to try free India from the British rule in the 1940s. When Zeenat’s uncle and aunt took over her house, she had to take refuge in a temple and start afresh. Zeenat will have to challenge her moral compass to rise above the people that have wronged her. How far will she go to become one of the most powerful people in Mumbai?