Hindi
Kannada children’s film Naanu Gandhi finds way to Chinese festival
NEW DELHI: Naanu Gandhi (I am Gandhi), a children’s film in Kannada, has been selected for the 10th China International Children’s Film Festival, to be held in Qingdao, Shandong Province, from 9 to 14 September.
The movie has already won international recognition for the manner in which it has used a unique contemporary story to keep alive the relevance for all ages of the message of Mahatma Gandhi.
Naanu Gandhi tells the story of a young child who is often made fun of by his fellow villagers because his name is Gandhi. He was named thus because his grandfather Rangappa had fought for the freedom of the country, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi.
Produced by Kokila N Gowda, wife of Nanjunde Gowda, the film is based on a story by Dr Besagarhalli Ramanna and screenplay by Gowda himself. The music is by Raju Upendra Kumar. It stars Master Likhit in the title role along with Ramesh Bhatt, Sundar Raj, Pramila Joshai, Sadashiva Brahmavar, Mandya Ramesh, Raaga Ranga Nagaraj, Venkatachal, N.G.E.F. Sri Kantaiah, Mosale Manjunath, Master K S Sharath Kumar, Master Nandan Kumar, Master Shashank, Baby Nisha, Baby Soumya, Baby Sneha, Bharathi and others.
Directed by NR Nanjunde Gowda, Naanu Gandhi has won several accolades including the best film award for propagating educational values at the Columbia International film festival in Carthagena, the first for any children’s film from India, and has been shown successfully in film festivals in Italy (Giffoni), Tunisia (Sousse), and Canada (Toronto).
The film, which had a successful run in Karnataka late last year, has been made by a man who has for long been espousing the cause of children’s cinema. His Chukki Chandrama (star and Moon) was the inaugural film at the International Children’s Film Festival held at Thiruvananthapuram in 1991 where it won the Best Screenplay award. A film that made the adults think about the values they were inculcating in their children, it featured teenage children, narrating in a mature way the thin line between love and sex that they tread on.
He followed it up with A Aa I II (ABCD) that depicted both at the children‘s and adults’ level the inherent contradictions between globalisation and native culture and their impact on young minds. The film was a runaway success.
A a non-governmental organisation aimed at espousing the cause of children’s cinema set up by Gowda, Children’s India hosts an annual film festival in Bangalore, perhaps one of the very few niche festivals being organised by single NGOs anywhere in the world.
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.
