ZEE5 has rolled out an expansive, multi-touchpoint marketing campaign for Saali Mohabbat, its original crime–mystery thriller that has crossed 100 million watch minutes on the platform. Designed to blur the lines between content and culture, the campaign extended the film’s layered narrative into everyday conversations through a digital-first, insight-led approach. It brought together social media storytelling, influencer-led narratives, on-ground spike moments, platform integrations and brand collaborations to sustain intrigue around themes of love, suspicion and betrayal.
A key highlight of the launch was ZEE5’s narrative-driven collaboration with Ferns N Petals. During the film’s premiere week, every Ferns N Petals order across India carried a personalised note from Radhika Apte, along with a QR code directing recipients to watch Saali Mohabbat on ZEE5. Special premiere hampers featuring plants and curated treats were also sent to celebrities and influencers, seamlessly extending the film’s world into real-life gifting moments.
The campaign’s social and digital amplification was anchored in the thought “pyaar, khoobsurat bhi aur khatarnak bhi.” Instead of overt promotion, ZEE5 focused on culturally resonant storytelling. One standout activation reimagined the film’s ‘poisonous’ flower motif, with micro-influencers gifting black roses as symbolic warnings an idea that travelled organically across social feeds. Brand recall was further strengthened through a temporary Saali Mohabbat-inspired redesign of the ZEE5 logo across launch touchpoints.
Momentum was built through immersive spike activities and creator collaborations. A staged couple argument in a public setting, designed to appear spontaneous, sparked intrigue before revealing its connection to the film. Partnerships with poet Keshav Jha and targeted activations within crime and thriller-focused YouTube communities further fuelled genre-specific conversations and word-of-mouth credibility.
Collectively, the campaign delivered over 12 million reach across platforms, helping Saali Mohabbat trend across social and media conversations. The ZEE5 Original, starring Radhika Apte alongside Divyenndu and Anurag Kashyap, marks the directorial debut of Tisca Chopra and is the first collaboration between ZEE5 and Manish Malhotra’s Stage5 Productions.