Hindi
Tingya success spurs Small Town Boy Productions to plan major projects
MUMBAI: After the success of debut film Tingya, Ravi Rai‘s Small Town Boy Productions is ready to roll out its second project Chanda.
Rai, maker of popular television soaps like Sailaab, Thoda Hai Thode Ki Zaroorat Hai and Sparsh, is planning to collaborate with Unicef for the upcoming film project.
Rai told Indiantelevision.com, “We, at Small Town Boy Productions, have completed the shooting of Chanda which is based on the story of a street girl. It is an issue-based film, beautifully woven by director Gajendra Ahire.”
The production house is planning to release the movie very soon. The story revolved around a 12-year-old Chanda, who has aspirations and dreams, and how her dreams get shattered.
The film will be bilingual — in Marathi and Hindi. Actors Makrand Anaspure, Siddharth Jadhav and Atul Purchure are essaying lead roles in Chanda.
Apart from Chanda, there are a slew of movies in the pipeline for Small Town Boy Productions. “There are some projects we are working on, like in Marathi – Aat Paat Nagar Hota, in Hindi – Mai Manjula Parmar, and one international movie Orange Mist,” informs Rai.
At present, Rai is concentrating on release of Tingya in New York and Los Angeles as he is taking the movie to the Oscars as an independent entry.
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.
