By Sankalp Phartiyal
MUMBAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) - An Indian media group has launched a Spanish language Bollywood channel in the United States, in a bid to woo Hispanic audiences with the drama, and elaborate song and dance sequences of the Indian silver screen.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises' ZEE.NS Zee Mundo channel, the first such venture by an Indian company in the United States, will showcase Indian content that Hispanic communities can empathise with, the company said late on Tuesday.
"We are confident that Zee Mundo's programming will cross frontiers with storylines and themes that are relatable to the Hispanic audiences," Amit Goenka, head of Zee's international broadcast unit, said in a statement.
Bollywood, the world's most prolific movie industry, is well known for its splashy movies, packed with drama and fancy costumes, that often bear a strong resemblance to Spanish-language soap operas.
Despite the language barrier, Bollywood movies have won over audiences outside the sub-continent, in countries such as Nigeria, China and even pockets of Latin America.
Zee's move, the first foray of its kind aimed at wooing the massive Hispanic market, will see Zee dub its entire library of Hindi movies into Spanish. The channel is set to be initially carried by Dish Network's DISH.O Latino platform.
Zee said aims to expand the channel to other Latin American markets over the course of the next few months.
"We will be expanding over the next few months, into other markets including Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Chile," the company said.
(Editing by Euan Rocha and Alison Williams)