International
India on foreign filmmakers map
MUMBAI: More and more foreign filmmakers heading to India to shoot their films on never-seen locations are giving a boost to the country‘s economy. The Indian information and broadcasting ministry has cleared 11 projects this year and has nine more in various stages of approval compared to 24 films in 2009.
“We have given permission for more than 100 movies in the last three to four years,” said D.P. Reddy, the joint secretary (films) at the department. “It‘s primarily because we have a lot of good locales where shooting can take place and we have the technical competence,” he said.
India has been an enticing location for foreign filmmakers for as long as cinema has existed. In the 1920s, German director Franz Osten made a series of black-and-white silent films inspired by India‘s many religions and rich history.
Richard Attenborough‘s Gandhi (1982) shot in India brought the country to a worldwide audience. Then, films such like the James Bond thriller Octopussy (1983), The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and A Mighty Heart (2007) were all shot in India.
This year‘s Eat Pray Love starring Julia Roberts was the first high-profile film after Slumdog Millionaire to come to India for filming.
Some film industry watchers have attributed the surge in interest in India to the runaway success of Slumdog at the 2009 Oscars. But Reddy said India was already attracting interest even before the British-made film came out.
Reddy said that filmmakers were coming from all over the world, with recent permission given to studios behind the latest film in the Mission: Impossible franchise and the big screen adaptation of Life of Pi.
Other films in the pipeline include The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel that will star British actress Judy Dench and will be directed by John Madden.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
