Film Production
Locomotive Global’s Sunder Aaron on “Seeker” & upcoming projects
MUMBAI: Sunder Aaron’s Locomotive Global develops, produces and distributes Indian-themed TV projects for both the local and international markets. The company has now partnered with Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment and Gurinder Chaddha’s Bend It Films & TV for an international drama series named Seeker. Meanwhile the company is focussed on creating IPs and acquiring content.
Elaborating more on this co-production and the series, Locomotive Global co-founder and principal Sunder Aaron tells indiantelevision.com that the story ideas and characters were created by him and Chaddha a couple of years ago. It was only recently that they approached Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment for the project. “Sameer has some terrific ambition for his company and the projects that they are doing and they are going to be doing going forward. So, it’s a really terrific firm,” he adds.
The story is at the initial stage where the writers are busy in drafting the script. According to Sunder they will be ready to roll the camera by around the first quarter of 2021.
Sunder also mentions that the shooting will happen in India as well as abroad. He says, “The story is based on the background of India. However, internationally, audiences and viewers are interested in authentic storytelling no matter where it comes from. First and foremost we want the viewers in India to enjoy this show, but I am sure we will find global audiences as well. We will get the primary idea of shooting location once the script is completed. Post that we can finalise the locations and do the recce. In season three we will take the story abroad. We have thought about creating multiple seasons of this show.”
As far as direction is concerned, Chaddha will direct the pilot episode. Post that, depending upon the requirement, she may direct other episodes as well. Typically, in a premium scripted television there is not one director. So in the case of Seeker, Chaddha will be the lead director who will make sure the tone and quality that she sets in the pilot episode gets followed by the other directors.
The production house is in talks with multiple Indian and international directors. It is a hour-long ten-episode series. No production will happen overseas. As Applause Entertainment is the main studio, they will hire the line producers and simultaneously look after production work in India.
He further adds, “Sameer has a very creative team at Applause, Gurinder and my company, the three of us will be looking at hiring key people. It is a joint production effort; we are producing it together. Casting will be done when things are finalised as there are many characters and we need to go a little deeper into things.”
According to Aaron, funding will be done by Applause Entertainment.
“We will put our series on a premium broadcast channel platform. We are also talking to several OTT platforms," he adds.
By the first half of 2021 Locomotive Global will be ready with close to four premium television series that ilwill be taken to production. He says, “There are a number of shows which are under development. We are constantly acquiring IPs. We have acquired the rights of American series named Ray Donovan from CBS Studios International that will be remade in India. It will be mostly done by 2021.”
The Making of Star India, was acquired by Locomotive Global Inc. in partnership with Sidharth Jain's company Story Ink. Sidharth Jain and Sunder Aaron are producing the project together. He is using the book as a primary source material for another scripted drama series set in the late 90s and early 2000s. He thinks that a lot has happened at the beginning when Star TV came to India. At the launch of the industry a lot of stories and shows were made on Silicon Valley and the internet boom but nothing on Indian television.
He says, “I think the Indian television is an extraordinary story waiting to be told. We are adapting it in a way that will fictionalise that era and period. It will be something like Succession and Mad Men. We have started the development and we are working with writers but it will take some time.”
Addressing the challenges that he foresees in the coming future, he notes that the most obvious challenge is production getting back up and accessing key talent.
“Presumably, people will begin full-fledged shooting by the start of new year, but then it will be difficult to get technical talent. A lot of actors will be unavailable because they will be booked. Another important thing is to find another shooting location apart from Mumbai. We will have to look at other places where we can shoot like Hyderabad and Goa. I am doing a film project in Goa.”
Aaron’s Hindi general entertainment channel Q India has also been severely impacted by the pandemic caused by Covid2019. Q India is completely advertising supported and it faced many challenges in terms of viewership and advertisement.
He concludes, “We do not charge a subscription fee for the channel. We were on the verge of a lot of good projects but that got stalled due to pandemic. We are constantly working to evolve the channel under challenging circumstances. Despite the pandemic and the set back, I am sure I will get out of this situation. We were planning to create vernacular channels but that has got pushed now.”
Film Production
Arka Mediaworks onboards 88 Pictures as animation studio partner on ‘The Eternal War – Part 1’
Arka Mediaworks announces that 88 Pictures, the acclaimed animation and visual storytelling studio known for its cutting-edge CGI and cinematic artistry, is on board as the animation partner for the highly anticipated Baahubali: The Eternal War, a groundbreaking two-part 3D animated feature film set in the globally beloved Baahubali universe.
Baahubali: The Eternal War represents a bold new chapter in the Baahubali saga envisioned for national and international audiences and crafted with the ambition of delivering one of India’s most ambitious and globally benchmarked animation projects to date.
88 Pictures will execute the animation production, bringing to life the film’s richly detailed worlds, epic battle sequences, and larger-than-life characters with its signature blend of artistic vision, performance-driven animation, and advanced production pipelines. Working closely with the film’s creative leadership and technical partners, the studio aims to set new benchmarks in animation quality, cinematic storytelling, and global scalability.
This animated epic follows the successful re-release of Baahubali: The Epic (the combined theatrical version of the original live-action films) on 31 October 2025 across India and the USA. During the film’s interval, legendary creator and director S.S. Rajamouli (Baahubali 1 & 2, RRR) stunned audiences with a surprise teaser for The Eternal War – Part 1. The video immediately went viral, garnering widespread national and international acclaim across LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube for its ambitious visual style and scale.
Produced by Arka Mediaworks and led by co-founder and CEO Shobu Yarlagadda – producer of the iconic Baahubali duology, The Eternal War brings together fantastic storytelling and cutting-edge animation.. The film is directed and written by acclaimed animation filmmaker Ishan Shukla (Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust, Star Wars: Visions – “The Bandits of Golak”) and screenplay by Scott Mosier (The Grinch). Mihira Visual Labs, the studio co-founded by Yarlagadda anchors the film’s animation, visual development, and execution.
The partnership with 88 Pictures brings significant pedigree to the project; the studio is well-regarded for its work on high-profile international titles including DreamWorks’ series Trollhunters, the HBO Max original series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Disney’s animated short An Almost Christmas Story to name a few.
Yarlagadda shared, “We are happy to onboard 88 Pictures as the animation studio partner for our prestigious and most expensive animated film from India. We believe that their expertise and capabilities will allow us to produce a first-of-its-kind, world-class animated feature film from India.”
88 Pictures founder & CEO Milind D. Shinde said, “Baahubali changed the way cinema is perceived and became a defining milestone that turned the tide for Indian live-action filmmaking. Expanding the franchise into an entirely new universe—at a never-seen, never-done scale—through an animated feature created in India for a global audience is set to redefine how the world views Indian animation. We are truly thrilled to be part of this landmark project and to bring it to life under the visionary direction of Ishan Shukla, guided by the experience and leadership of acclaimed producer Shobu Yarlagadda.”
Shukla expressed, “Eternal War requires a level of visual and emotional precision that can only come from teams who truly understand both craft and intent. Working with 88 Pictures, alongside Mihira Visual Labs, has been a deeply collaborative experience. This association brings together technical excellence and creative sensitivity, enabling us to translate an ambitious vision into a compelling cinematic reality.”
Baahubali: The Eternal War – Part 1 is scheduled for release in 2027
