*Zee Cine Awards 2023 gives a sneak peek into its exciting line-up of performers*

Mumbai, 31st January 2023: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL), India’s leading television, media, and entertainment conglomerate, brings back the biggest celebration of Bollywood – Zee Cine Awards – a show that celebrates excellence in Cinema and the true spirit of heroism embodied in larger-than-life performances and glorious entertainment. The prestigious award show has trotted the globe with its previous editions and felicitated the inspiring journeys of countless luminaries, filmmakers and technicians over the years. And, this February, Mumbai will play host to Bollywood’s finest talent, global dignitaries, world media and a mélange of glitz and glamour at the highly anticipated star-studded event. Fans from across the globe will witness the biggest entertainment night as Zee Cinema, Zee TV & ZEE5 will soon showcase Zee Cine Awards 2023.

It, thus, comes as no surprise that when it came to kick-starting the buzz around B-Town’s eagerly awaited awards show, it was none other than the ‘Darling’ of the box office – Alia Bhatt and the swashbuckling ‘Bhediya’ Varun Dhawan who made the big announcement in style with an extraordinary press conference!  The mega-stars announced Zee Cine Awards 2023 and walked down memory lane, sharing some of their fondest memories from the previous editions of the awards show. Well, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that 2022 literally belonged to Alia and Varun!

For Alia, it was a quadruple whammy of blockbuster successes such as Gangubai Kathiawadi – the first bonafide Bollywood success after the longest hiatus, that won her all-round applause and critical acclaim, Darlings – her own maiden production venture with Red Chillies that emerged as the highest-viewed non-English Indian original film on OTT and two of India’s all-time highest grossing films worldwide – Brahmastra and RRR. Alia fans will be thrilled to know that they can look forward to their idol setting the stage ablaze with a scintillating finale performance during Zee Cine Awards 2023. This is huge as it will be almost 5 years since Alia has performed LIVE at any awards show.

For Varun, it was a year of back-to-back success with his fans blessing him ‘Jug Jugg Jeeyo’ and pouring all their love for him at the box office for both his releases. While the multi-starrer, light-hearted extravaganza had Varun in his element as the romantic hero with a flair for tongue-in-cheek comedy, the actor was presented in a never-seen-before avatar when he transformed into a wolf for Bhediya. It is no surprise, then, that his fans are all set to create ‘Bawaal’ over his digital debut ‘Citadel’ in 2023. Having enthralled audiences with his memorable high-octane performance, Varun is all set to rock the stage at Zee Cine Awards 2023.

Alia Bhatt said, “Zee Cine Awards is an awards ceremony that the film fraternity eagerly looks forward to year after year, and I am honored that I have the privilege to announce its 2023 edition. It has been a while since I performed live on stage, and hence, that makes this performance even more exciting for me. 2022 has been special in so many ways, and I can’t wait to have a blast on stage to all my hit songs. Super thrilled to be performing live at Zee Cine Awards, and it will be a special performance that all the audiences will absolutely love!”

Varun Dhawan said, “Zee Cine Awards, over the years, has so many memories for me – be it my performance with Kiara or the awards won for Badrinath Ki Dulhania and Judwaa 2, this awards show has a special place in my heart… 2022 has been a great year and my fans are going to love my act at Zee Cine Awards 2023.”

Ruchir Tiwari, Chief Cluster Officer (Hindi Movie Channels, Film Licensing and Syndication), ZEE said, “With ZEE having recently crossed a huge milestone of 30 glorious years entertaining Indian audiences globally, our annual celebration of Indian cinema assumes an even more special significance. This year, we plan to take the entertainment quotient to a whole new level through an exciting line-up of Bollywood superstars – the first of which are Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan. We have several other exciting names that we’ll reveal in due course. Given the legacy, credibility and popularity that it commands, it is our endeavour to maximize the reach of Zee Cine Awards through a simulcast on Zee Cinema and Zee TV, apart from being available on our streaming platform, ZEE5, making it a winning proposition for all our partners”.

Voting will soon open for Viewers’ Choice Awards categories of Zee Cine Awards 2023 including Best Film, Best Actor (Male), Best Actor (Female) and Song of The Year.

To witness Bollywood’s biggest award show and watch all the actors’ electrifying performances, tune into Zee Cine Awards, premiering soon on Zee Cinema, Zee TV & ZEE5!