Hindi
Malayalam film set to premiere at Montreal film fest
MUMBAI: The Montreal World Film Festival, which is kicking off on 27 August, will see the premiere of Malayalam film Kutty Srank (The Sailor of Hearts) on the opening day.
The film will be screened in the “World Greats” section of the 12-day festival.
Directed by noted filmmaker Shaji N Karun, the film revolves around a mariner (Srank) played by Malayalam superstar Mammootty. Kamalini Mukherjee, Padmapriya and Sri Lankan actress Meenakumari are playing lead female artiste in the movie.
Kutty Srank is a short-tempered, lonely, but law-abiding boatman whose work leads him to travel the back waters of Kerala. One day, when the local police station discovers an unidentified body washed ashore, three women come forward claiming it to be the dead body of Kutty Srank. Each of the three women – a rich women aspiring to be a Buddhist nun, a convict, and a mute – claim to be Srank‘s wife.
Director Shaji N Karun is coming back after a long pause with this film, and he tells the story of the mariner and his voyages through the eyes of the three women.
Kutty Srank is produced by Reliance Big Picture and Mega production house in Malayalam, and will be released later in India.
Hindi
Kuku enters theatrical cinema with Indian Institute of Zombies
Audio and micro-drama giant launches first Hindi feature film on 8 May.
MUMBAI: Kuku just added brains to its bite because when an audio and micro-drama powerhouse decides to make a zombie comedy, even the undead had better watch their step. Kuku, one of India’s largest digital entertainment companies and the force behind Kuku FM and Kuku TV, has announced its foray into theatrical cinema with its debut Hindi feature film, Indian Institute of Zombies (IIZ). Billed as India’s first campus zombie comedy, the film is set to release in cinemas on 8 May 2026.
Set inside an elite engineering campus, IIZ blends zombie horror, youth comedy and sharp social satire, promising a high-energy big-screen experience. The film stars an ensemble cast including Jessie Lever, Anupriya Goenka, Mohan Kapur, Ranjan Raj, Shivani Paliwal, Shantanu Anam, Rose Sardana, Sachin Kavetham and Tanishq Chaudhary. It has been developed in-house at Kuku, scripted by Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal (known for Brahmāstra and Farzi), and directed by Gaganjeet Singh and Alok Dwivedi of Low Gravity Productions.
Kuku, CEO Lal Chand Bisu said, “Kuku has always been obsessed with how India consumes stories. We built scale in personal consumption through Kuku FM and created a new micro-drama category with Kuku TV. Theatres represent the next frontier, and Indian Institute of Zombies marks the first of many, rooted in youth culture, genre innovation and mass Indian tastes.”
Kuku senior vice president Kunj Sanghvi added, “IIZ is a film for everyone who has ever been on a college campus. We observed the success of horror comedies at the box office, the lack of a breakout Indian zombie film, and the insatiable appetite for campus stories across age groups.”
The project also showcases Kuku’s AI-native approach to filmmaking. Artificial intelligence has been deeply integrated into concept structuring, story architecture, scheduling, budgeting and creative iteration not as a gimmick, but as an amplifier to enable faster development cycles and sharper decisions.
With this move, Kuku is evolving from a leader in audio and vertical storytelling into a multi-format entertainment powerhouse, leveraging its deep audience insights and technological edge to create culturally resonant theatrical experiences.
In a content universe where stories are getting shorter and screens smaller, Kuku is boldly going big proving that even in the age of two-minute episodes, there’s still plenty of room for zombies, campus chaos and full-blown cinematic laughter. Indian Institute of Zombies hits theatres on 8 May 2026.
