Film Production
Balaji sets the stage for new stories with launch of Balaji Studio
MUMBAI: When Ektaa R Kapoor says she’s rewriting the rules of entertainment, she means it, quite literally. Balaji Telefilms ltd has announced the launch of Balaji Studio, a bold new creative vertical set to become the next-generation content engine for India’s fast-evolving TV and digital ecosystem.
But this isn’t just another production wing. Balaji Studio is imagined as an open, collaborative playground for storytellers, a space where creative freedom meets industry structure, and where emerging voices can transform their wildest ideas into mainstream magic.
As content consumption explodes across platforms and audiences chase new formats and fresher perspectives, Balaji Studio aims to build bridges between the traditional and the experimental, uniting the best of both worlds. It promises to be a future-ready hub that supports creative innovation while ensuring commercial scalability.
“Balaji Studio is more than a new business vertical, it’s our declaration that the future of Indian entertainment is open to all who dare to dream big and disrupt the norm,” said Balaji Telefilms Ltd founder and joint managing director Ektaa R Kapoor. “We’re tearing up the rulebook and building a home for bold creatives, talent and original voices who will shape the next era of storytelling.”
In a landscape where attention spans are shrinking and creativity is the new currency, Balaji Studio aims to give creators the backing they need from state-of-the-art production infrastructure to strategic collaborations with technology platforms, brands, and industry stakeholders. The goal is to help content travel further and faster while keeping audiences emotionally invested.
Adding to this Balaji Telefilms ltd chief revenue officer Nitin Burman said, “Balaji Studio marks a pivotal step in our evolution, it’s where creativity meets commerce. We’re building a space that not only nurtures great ideas but also gives them the scalability and audience reach they deserve.”
Balaji Studio’s mandate is both creative and cultural to empower storytellers at every stage, from industry veterans to first-time creators. It envisions a space where risk-taking is celebrated, where collaborations thrive, and where content reflects the dynamism of an audience that consumes across languages, screens, and genres.
With this move, Balaji Telefilms is not just expanding its portfolio, it’s cementing its position as a cultural incubator in India’s entertainment ecosystem. From daily soaps that defined a generation to digital originals that push boundaries, the company’s next act is clearly about scale, substance, and storytelling that resonates across time and technology.
As Kapoor puts it, Balaji Studio is less about following trends and more about creating them, a modern creative home built for an India that’s hungry for stories, and for storytellers ready to rewrite how they’re told.
Film Production
Arka Mediaworks onboards 88 Pictures as animation studio partner on ‘The Eternal War – Part 1’
Arka Mediaworks announces that 88 Pictures, the acclaimed animation and visual storytelling studio known for its cutting-edge CGI and cinematic artistry, is on board as the animation partner for the highly anticipated Baahubali: The Eternal War, a groundbreaking two-part 3D animated feature film set in the globally beloved Baahubali universe.
Baahubali: The Eternal War represents a bold new chapter in the Baahubali saga envisioned for national and international audiences and crafted with the ambition of delivering one of India’s most ambitious and globally benchmarked animation projects to date.
88 Pictures will execute the animation production, bringing to life the film’s richly detailed worlds, epic battle sequences, and larger-than-life characters with its signature blend of artistic vision, performance-driven animation, and advanced production pipelines. Working closely with the film’s creative leadership and technical partners, the studio aims to set new benchmarks in animation quality, cinematic storytelling, and global scalability.
This animated epic follows the successful re-release of Baahubali: The Epic (the combined theatrical version of the original live-action films) on 31 October 2025 across India and the USA. During the film’s interval, legendary creator and director S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali 1 & 2, RRR) stunned audiences with a surprise teaser for The Eternal War – Part 1. The video immediately went viral, garnering widespread national and international acclaim across LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for its ambitious visual style and scale.
Produced by Arka Mediaworks and led by co-founder and CEO Shobu Yarlagadda – producer of the iconic Baahubali duology, The Eternal War brings together fantastic storytelling and cutting-edge animation.. The film is directed and written by acclaimed animation filmmaker Ishan Shukla (Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Star Wars: Visions – “The Bandits of Golak”) and screenplay by Scott Mosier (The Grinch). Mihira Visual Labs, the studio co-founded by Yarlagadda anchors the film’s animation, visual development, and execution.
The partnership with 88 Pictures brings significant pedigree to the project; the studio is well-regarded for its work on high-profile international titles including DreamWorks’ series Trollhunters, the HBO Max original series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Disney’s animated short An Almost Christmas Story to name a few.
Yarlagadda shared, “We are happy to onboard 88 Pictures as the animation studio partner for our prestigious and most expensive animated film from India. We believe that their expertise and capabilities will allow us to produce a first-of-its-kind, world-class animated feature film from India.”
88 Pictures founder & CEO Milind D. Shinde said, “Baahubali changed the way cinema is perceived and became a defining milestone that turned the tide for Indian live-action filmmaking. Expanding the franchise into an entirely new universe—at a never-seen, never-done scale—through an animated feature created in India for a global audience is set to redefine how the world views Indian animation. We are truly thrilled to be part of this landmark project and to bring it to life under the visionary direction of Ishan Shukla, guided by the experience and leadership of acclaimed producer Shobu Yarlagadda.”
Shukla expressed, “Eternal War requires a level of visual and emotional precision that can only come from teams who truly understand both craft and intent. Working with 88 Pictures, alongside Mihira Visual Labs, has been a deeply collaborative experience. This association brings together technical excellence and creative sensitivity, enabling us to translate an ambitious vision into a compelling cinematic reality.”
Baahubali: The Eternal War – Part 1 is scheduled for release in 2027
