A campaign built around love, suspicion and betrayal
ZEE5 has unveiled an integrated marketing campaign for its original crime–mystery thriller Saali Mohabbat, designed to stretch the film’s narrative beyond the streaming platform and embed it into broader cultural discourse. The initiative brings together social media outreach, influencer-driven storytelling, on-ground activations, platform integrations and a consumer-facing brand partnership.
The campaign draws directly from the film’s central themes of love, suspicion and betrayal, with a strong emphasis on digital-first execution informed by audience insights.
Brand collaboration anchors launch week outreach
A key element of the campaign was ZEE5’s collaboration with Ferns N Petals during the film’s premiere week. Over a five-day period, Ferns N Petals orders delivered across the country carried a personalised note from lead actor Radhika Apte, accompanied by a QR code directing recipients to watch the film on ZEE5. In addition, select hampers were curated and sent to celebrities and influencers on the day of the premiere.
Influencers, symbolism and platform cues
Digital activations were anchored around the central thought, ‘pyaar, khoobsurat bhi aur khatarnak bhi’, reflecting the film’s emotional core. Influencer-led storytelling included the gifting of a black rose as a symbolic nod to the narrative, while a temporary redesign of the ZEE5 logo during the launch window was used to strengthen recall.
The campaign also featured staged public interactions intended to blur the line between fiction and reality, alongside collaborations with creators active in crime and thriller-focused online communities. According to the platform, these efforts collectively drove significant reach and sustained engagement across social media channels.
ZEE5 on creating cultural narratives around content
Commenting on the campaign, Kartik Mahadev, chief marketing officer, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises, said:
“At ZEE5, we view every launch as a chance to build a relevant cultural narrative around the story, creating memorable moments. Our approach creates a flow of content between online and offline platform ecosystems where platform innovation, distribution surfaces, creators, and culture work in sync to make content both easier to discover and more rewarding to engage with.”
He added, “For Saali Mohabbat, we orchestrated high impact connected TV visibility, creator-driven storytelling, and real-world spike moments that carried the content emotion beyond the screen. This big idea led integration helped build curiosity and sustained engagement at scale delivering millions of meaningful reach moments and a launch experience that felt immersive, and unmistakably ZEE5.”
Ferns N Petals highlights emotion-led collaboration
Avi Kumar, chief marketing officer, Ferns N Petals, said the partnership was rooted in emotional alignment rather than conventional marketing.
“At FNP, we believe the strongest collaborations come from emotion, not marketing briefs. Saali Mohabbat gave us a character whose love for plants felt honest and deeply human. Bringing that into our everyday gifting experiences allowed us to extend Smita’s world beyond the screen—turning each delivery into a small, heartfelt invitation to discover her story on ZEE5,” he said.
About the film
Saali Mohabbat is a ZEE5 Original how-dunnit crime thriller starring Radhika Apte, Divyenndu and Anurag Kashyap. The film marks the directorial debut of Tisca Chopra and premiered exclusively on ZEE5 on December 12, 2025.
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