Producer Vikram Malhotra is unstoppable. After a busy, blockbuster first few months on streaming—with Bhumi Pednekar-starrer series Daldal and the Anil Kapoor-led feature Subedaar, both on Prime Video—Malhotra, founder and CEO of Abundantia Entertainment, is already looking forward to something he’s particularly excited about: AI-driven titles.
Abundantia’s artificial intelligence-focused division, aiON, is building a slate of five films—all of which, Malhotra says, will debut in cinemas.
“For the slate driven by aiON, our first five films are set to go to theatres. Because these are disruptive stories,” Malhotra tells THR India.
“These are stories designed for the big screen, for community viewing. Their genre, tone, experience, and hopefully the enjoyment, will be such that you’d want to watch them with others. So, I’m taking them to theatres.”
The producer, who is actively working on several AI-led titles, says he is leveraging the “revolutionary technology” to chronicle ambitious—even audacious—stories on screen.
“We didn’t get into AI to say, ‘We are going to replace actors or treat it as a flavour-of-the-month tool. My drive behind our AI division is to tell stories that, so far, the imagination of my creators has not reached.”
Malhotra says his AI division won’t achieve its goals if it is used merely as a tool to tell stories that could have been made through traditional formats.
“If we do that with aiON, we won’t succeed. We have a slate full of developments leveraging AI—both fully generated and hybrid—where we are working on stories and genres that, I’d say, 50 percent of them haven’t been done in India before.”
While the producer has a packed lineup ahead—including Maa Behen, starring Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri; the romantic thriller Sundar Poonam, starring Sanya Malhotra and Aditya Rawal; and Family Business, directed by Hansal Mehta—there’s also a project he announced a few years ago: the Hindi remake of Angamaly Diaries.
The 2017 Malayalam blockbuster was directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, while its Hindi adaptation is helmed by Madhumita and stars Arjun Das.
“We’ve got that in the works. I’m waiting for the right time for that film,” Malhotra says when asked for an update.
“Madhumita is a fantastic director. Her take on reimagining Angamaly Diaries is superb. We’ve got great casting in Arjun Das and others. We’re just getting it into shape and are happy with its core—the thought and the way it’s shaping up.”
