Hindi
National Film Board Of Canada, Singapore’s MDA tie up
MUMBAI: The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) took another step forward in its strategy of forging international alliances with public and private filmmaking organisations around the world, with the announcement of a new agreement with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA).
In their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the NFB and the MDA have agreed to work together on co-productions, education training and technological co-operation.
NFB chairperson Jacques Bensimon says, “Canada and Singapore share a commitment to cultural diversity and to nurturing indigenous voices in cinema. This new agreement between the National Film Board of Canada and the Media Development Authority of Singapore will enable us to work together to promote our shared values – on co-productions, education training and technological co-operation that will strengthen independent cinema in both our countries.”
MDA CEO Dr Christopher Chia says, “The MoU with the NFB builds on the close ties that Singapore and Canada have cultivated over the past few years since the signing of the Audio Visual Co-production Agreement with Telefilm Canada on 13 November 1998. The National Film Board of Canada, as a public producer and distributor of media content will be another key partner for us to collaborate with in facilitating media industry co-productions between Canada and Singapore”.
Under the terms of the agreement, the NFB and MDA have pledged to encourage co-produced projects between Canada and Singapore in the field of animation, documentaries, interactive and experimental films and media initiatives, including innovative digital productions for new platforms. The two organizations also agree to encourage programmes related to training and education in the audiovisual industry as well as the development of emerging technologies. In addition, the NFB and MDA will exchange experiences, strategies and practices in commercial distribution and outreach development.
International partnerships, like the one signed with the MDA, are a priority at today’s National Film Board of Canada. This agreement with the MDA follows the signing of a cultural cooperation programme agreement between the NFB and the Ministry of Culture of Brazil in March 2006.
The NFB also spearheaded the formation of a world educational consortium with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), Film Australia and Discovery Channel Canada to create educational productions for mobile and new digital platforms. In addition, the NFB is a partner in Content 360, joining the British Broadcasting Corporation and Korean Broadcasting Commission to produce new digital content.
Hindi
Jio Studios unveils AI-powered Krishna teaser at NAB Show 2026
Global first look of Krishna uses Galleri5 AI pipeline on Azure, Historyverse slate as Jio’s Dhurandhar crosses Rs 3,000cr worldwide.
MUMBAI: Krishna has just dropped a divine teaser and this time the gods are powered by silicon, not just scripture. Jio Studios and Collective Studios’ Historyverse stole the spotlight at the NAB Show 2026 in Las Vegas with the world’s first teaser for their upcoming theatrical feature Krishna, directed by Manu Anand. The big reveal happened during Microsoft’s keynote “Powering Intelligent Media, From AI Experimentation to Real-World Impact,” where the film’s AI-native production pipeline took centre stage alongside Collective Artists Network’s in-house platform, Galleri5.
At the heart of this mythological spectacle lies a fresh cinematic workflow built by Galleri5 on Microsoft Azure’s advanced AI and cloud infrastructure. Forget bolting AI onto traditional VFX or animation, this is an end-to-end, production-grade system woven into every layer: world-building, character creation, shot design and final output. Yet the storytelling remains firmly director-led, emphasising emotional depth, stillness, music and performance rather than pure spectacle. The result? Large-format theatrical cinema rooted in Indian history and culture, but conceived in ways that were simply not possible before.
Collective Artists Network runs Galleri5 natively on Azure, leveraging Microsoft Foundry and cutting-edge AI tools to handle film, episodic and advertising workflows in a secure enterprise environment. Microsoft highlighted Collective as a “Frontier” organisation successfully moving AI from pilot projects to real production-scale deployment in cinema. The technology is also on display at Microsoft’s NAB booth in the West Hall (Booth W1731).
Jio Studios (Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries), president Jyoti Deshpande said the project advances the studio’s mission to take Indian stories global with scale, ambition and authenticity, “With Krishna, we are embracing cutting-edge AI-led filmmaking while democratising these tools to make them more accessible, intuitive and cost-effective for storytellers everywhere.”
Collective Artists Network founder & group CEO Vijay Subramaniam added, “We’re using technology developed in India to carry our culture and history to audiences worldwide at a scale never seen before.”
Microsoft, vice president for telco media & entertainment, gaming Silvia Candiani noted that the media industry has reached an inflection point, “AI is no longer about experimentation but delivering real impact at production scale… By building AI-native creative systems on Microsoft Azure, Collective exemplifies how storytellers can unlock new formats, move faster and realise a true return on intelligence while keeping human creativity at the centre.”
Krishna forms part of Historyverse, Collective Studios’ ambitious slate of history and culture-driven IPs. The slate draws from iconic figures and traditions that shaped the Indian subcontinent, including stories inspired by Kali, Karna and Durga. It builds on the already-released Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh series, showing how ancient narratives can be reimagined for modern screens.
Jio Studios, India’s leading content studio and the media and content arm of Reliance Industries, continues its blockbuster run. The studio’s Dhurandhar franchise led by Dhurandhar and Dhurandhar: The Revenge has become the first Indian film series to cross Rs 3,000 crore worldwide. It also delivered three consecutive years of India’s highest-grossing Hindi films: Stree 2 (2024), Dhurandhar (2025) and Dhurandhar: The Revenge (2026). In just eight years, Jio Studios has assembled a library of over 160 films and series, with more than 60 titles winning over 500 awards. Other notable successes include Laapataa Ladies (India’s official Oscar entry 2025), Stree, Article 370, Shaitaan and Mrs.
The NAB unveiling marks another step in Jio Studios and Collective’s push to blend Indian storytelling talent with frontier technology proving that the future of cinema may well be both ancient in spirit and thoroughly modern in execution. For audiences who love epic tales with a fresh twist, Krishna promises to deliver divine drama, this time with a little help from the cloud.
