Hindi
Bleeding Pak theatres may become ‘Raees’ again
MUMBAI: Four months after Pakistan stopped screening Hindi films in its cinemas responding to Bollywood’s unofficial ban on Pakistani artistes following the Uri attack, Pakistan is again attempting to allow screening as theatre-owners are bleeding financially.
PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) had then banned Indian TV channels and entertainment programmes and cinema hall owners decided not to screen Bollywood films, the Times of India reported.
Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a panel to consider a request by distributors and theatre-owners to resume the import of Bollywood films. Distributors are hoping to get the permission before SRK’s ‘Raees’ releases on 25 January.
The Sharif committee is headed by minister of state for information Maryum Aurangzeb and includes the secretary of commerce, advisor to the PM on national history and literary heritage and a representative of ISI.
Films from India are in the list of items banned in Pakistan. But, the commerce ministry, under the import policy order, had issued NOCs (no-objection certificates) at per information ministry request thus allowing the import of 2-3 Indian films each month.
Sources told the Hindu that business in cinema halls in Pakistan was down after the unofficial ban on Indian movies and revenues had fallen up to 75 per cent in some theatres. Around 50 per cent of workers in halls lost their jobs. Bollywood films are also widely available through pirated DVDs in Pakistan.
Atrium Cinema owner in Karachi Nadeem Mandviwalla had earlier said that 70 per cent of their business comes from Bollywood and Hollywood. He said that they could only survive a temporary suspension, and not a continued one.
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Hindi
Abundantia and invideo join hands for Rs 100 crore AI films
Studio Aion and global video tech leader join forces for 5 AI-driven films over 3 years.
When Hollywood meets artificial intelligence, the credits might soon read “Directed by Algorithm” but Abundantia Entertainment wants to keep the human spark in the frame. The Mumbai-based studio’s AI-powered division Aion has teamed up with generative-video pioneer invideo in a Rs 100 crore strategic partnership, billed as India’s largest structured commitment to AI-driven filmmaking to date.
Announced at the India AI Film Festival (IAFF) beside the historic Qutb Minar in New Delhi on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the alliance pools Abundantia’s creative and production muscle with invideo’s cutting-edge AI video tech. The duo will channel the Rs 100 crore development and production corpus into a slate of five AI-driven films over the next three years, blending human imagination with machine-powered tools to craft stories that aim to be both emotionally rich and technologically bold.
Abundantia Entertainment founder & CEO Vikram Malhotra framed the move as cinema’s next big leap, “AI in film-making is now real! Every major leap in cinema from sound to colour to digital has expanded storytelling possibility. AI represents the next inflection point. With Abundantia Aion, we are building a future where AI strengthens and amplifies the filmmaker’s voice, not substitutes it.”
Invideo founder & CEO Sanket Shah echoed the sentiment: “At invideo our mission has always been to democratize high-quality video creation through AI. Partnering with a top-notch studio like Abundantia Entertainment enables us to extend this capability into the world of high-quality filmmaking by building tools and workflows that allow creators to move from idea to cinematic expression faster and more freely than ever before.”
The collaboration already has momentum. Abundantia Aion is developing India’s first AI-generated Hindi feature film, Chiranjeevi Hanuman, slated for release in 2026, alongside its next AI-powered project, Jai Santoshi Mata, as part of a broader slate. The partnership will explore OpenAI-style workflows, advanced generative pipelines (bolstered by invideo’s recent Google Cloud tie-up), and new ways to accelerate everything from concept to final cut.
Backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV, invideo brings deep generative-video expertise to the table, while Abundantia’s track record in storytelling ensures the tech serves the narrative rather than stealing the show. In a year when AI is rewriting rules across industries, this Rs 100 crore bet signals India’s ambition to shape not just follow the future of cinema. Lights, camera, algorithm… action.
