Hindi
Indu Sarkar…….Who cares!
There seems to be some kind of intent among some filmmakers to please the present dispensation at the helm in India. So, we have a film here which concocts a story around 1975/1977 Emergency declared in India by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi to save her government and her position. This is a women-oriented film, following soon in the line-up of recent failures such as Mom, Mattr and the ilk.
Emergency was a black spot on the world’s largest democracy, India. And, it was a serious issue when the best and bravest of nationalist leaders either went into hiding or were whisked off from their homes at midnight and consigned to jails.
And, when all and mighty of the opposition were helter skelter, running to save their own skin, filmmaker, Madhur Bhandarkar, finds this underdog played by Kirti Kulhari, a stuttering marriage unhappy woman, to take on the might of the authority of the emergency imposing powers. Her inspiration being the character of Anupam Kher, leading an identifiable Hindu right wing group who arouses her conscious and edges her on to lead a move to free the country!! One wonders, why Kher and his group expect a woman to take on the might of emergency while they stay in the background!
There are references and scenes dedicated to the excesses of the emergency era like slums demolitions and forced nasbandi (sterilisation) on young and old alike (Though this was limited to the Hindi belt, mainly to Delhi and UP, and bore no all India effect.) besides strong armed tactics and violence by those ruling. Kirti finds her cause in life when she learns that her husband, played by Tota Roy Chowdhury, being a government servant, is responsible for acts of slum demolitions etc.
Indu Sarkar, the title, has the connotations that Indira (Gandhi), referred to as Indu by those close to her including Moraraji Desai, was the Sarkar, the ultimate authority. But, that hardly adds to the film’s USP.
The Emergency, like many other events such as the Sikh massacre, are a thing of the past and of use only for the sling matches by the opposing political parties. Indians forget and forgive fast.
This is 2017 and this film bears no relevance today and is a futile exercise and waste of resources. Films like Nasbandi (IS Johar) and Kissaa Kursee Kaa (Amrit Nahta), released soon after the Emergency, were disasters.
Producers: Bharat Shah, Madhur Bhandarkar.
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar.
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Supriya Vinod, Anupam Kher, Tota Roy Chowdhury.
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.
