Hindi
Lola Montes launches IFFI Film Heritage Section
MUMBAI: IFFI Film Heritage Section of the 39th International Film Festival
Highlighting the theme ‘Women,’ other films in the section are Cluny Brown (Ernst Lubitsch), Subarnarekha (Ritwik Ghatak), Floating Clouds (Mikio Naruse), Loulou (Maurice Pialat), My Life to Live (Jean-Luc Godard), The Women (George Cukor) and Imitation of Life (Douglas Sirk).
Cinematheque francaise director of Programming Jean-Francois Rauger while addressing the press said that the idea of cinema as an art form and the notion of preservation of this perceived “Low Culture” took some time to develop but gradually the preservation of cinema has acquired a mainstream acceptance.
Wemaere said that Lola Montes is our best ambassador. “There are many movies, which are not accessible but should be available and our endeavour is to sensitise and promote awareness among the audience and the people involved in cinema about the importance of restoring and preserving film heritage,” Wemaere added.
On the theme, film director Mani Kaul said that our cultural civilisational evolution has been dominated a masculine sensibility and it will be interesting to see the changes brought about by women taking charge of the various aspects.
Under the Section, there will be a workshop on restoration project of Lola Montes and the seminar on women in cinema.
IFFI-Film Heritage Section is entirely dedicated to worldwide film heritage, representing significant cultural and historical documents as well as treasures of inspiration for future cinematic creations.
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.
