International
Helen Mirren crowned top actress at top UK theatre awards
NEW DELHI: Dame Helen Mirren was crowned best actress at Britain‘s Olivier awards on Sunday for her portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth. A stage version of a novel about a boy with autism was on track to be the top winner of the Olivier awards.
Mirren, 67, has won stellar reviews for starring in "The Audience", Peter Morgan‘s play about the private weekly meetings between Queen Elizabeth and the 12 British prime ministers during the six decades of her reign.
She is no stranger to royalty having won an Academy award for the same role in the 2006 film "The Queen".
The actress said the queen certainly deserved an Olivier award after receiving one of Britain‘s most prestigious entertainment honours, a BAFTA, earlier this month for her support for the film and television industry.
"I think she deserves one for the most committed and consistent performance of the 20th century and probably the 21st century," said Mirren on accepting the award from Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe.
Her co-star, Richard McCabe, won the award for best supporting actor for playing the prime minister Howard Wilson.
But the biggest winner of the 37th Olivier awards was the play "The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time" that opened at the National Theatre in London in 2012 and transferred to London‘s West End theatre district this year.
The play, based on Mark Haddon‘s 2003 award-winning novel, was nominated for eight awards and picked up several in the first half of the glitzy awards ceremony at London‘s Royal Opera House.
Luke Treadaway won the best actor award for playing 15-year-old Christopher, a maths prodigy with autism who sets out to solve the mystery of who killed his neighbour‘s dog.
International
Utopai Studios unveils 4K three-minute video generation for PAI platform
New Story Agent and editing tools aim to streamline AI-led filmmaking workflows
MUMBAI: Utopai Studios has announced a major upgrade to its PAI storytelling AI platform, introducing what it claims is an industry-first capability to generate three-minute videos in 4K resolution, alongside enhancements to its Story Agent feature.
The update, rolling out from April 15, expands the platform’s capabilities across the filmmaking process, from early concept development to post-production. The company said the new features are designed to help filmmakers maintain continuity across characters, scenes and visual styles, a key challenge in AI-driven storytelling.
At the heart of the release is a next-generation model that enables more structured narrative development, allowing creators to move more seamlessly from idea to execution. With tools such as multi-shot sequencing and multi-turn editing, the platform aims to give both studios and independent creators greater control over complex storytelling workflows.
Commenting on the launch, Utopai Studios co-founder and CTO Jie Yang said, “The next phase of AI in media will not be defined by isolated tools, but by systems that can carry story, continuity and collaboration across the full creative process.” He added that the update is a step towards enabling more practical, end-to-end narrative development at a professional level.
Echoing this, Utopai Studios co-founder and chief scientific officer Zijian He said, “Generative video is opening the door to a new production model, where creative ambition is less constrained by traditional cost and complexity.” He noted that the platform combines multimodal models with iterative editing to give creators more speed, control and consistency.
The company said PAI is already being used in professional film and television productions, particularly in Hollywood, for tasks such as pre-visualisation, scene design and post-production refinements. The latest update adds features including improved voice options, character consistency, unlimited editing and more flexible asset management.
Utopai also emphasised that its models are not trained on copyrighted material, positioning the platform as a cleaner alternative for creators and rights holders navigating the evolving AI landscape.
As AI continues to reshape content creation, Utopai’s latest push signals a shift from standalone tools to integrated systems, aiming to make high-quality filmmaking faster, more flexible and increasingly accessible.
