Hindi
Toonz Entertainment to bring Santa Claus to big screen
MUMBAI: Singapore-based Toonz Entertainment, which owns Indian animation studio Toonz Animation, Gang of 7 Animation USA, and Ashok Amritraj‘s Hyde Park Entertainment have entered into an agreement to produce a CGI animated feature film The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
The film, which is based on the classic book by L Frank Baum, the creator of The Wizard of Oz, chronicles the life of Santa Claus from an infant to an adult.
The film will be directed by Tom Tataranowicz, Rich Arons and Dick Sebast, who have supervised Disney, Marvel and Hanna Barbera features.
The project, which is under planning stage, may go on floors by end of this month at the Toonz Animation Studio in India. The movie is expected to be released in time for Christmas, 2010.
Hyde Park will distribute the picture internationally and share North American rights with G7 Animation.
“We at Toonz look forward to this challenging opportunity which would test our creative talents, and anticipate an exciting and quality production,” said Toonz Group CEO P Jayakumar.
“I grew up watching The Wizard of Oz. It’s wonderful to bring this classic origin story of Santa Claus to the screen, particularly this novel from such an amazing writer,” Hyde Park CEO Ashok Amritraj said.
“Amazingly enough, this is the first time an origin story, explaining Santa Claus and all the Christmas traditions, has ever come to the screen. We are pleased to bring this exciting fantasy to life,” stated G7 Animation head Tom Tataranowicz.
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.
