Animation
Padmalaya animation director Rajeev Sangari joins Maya Entertainment as COO
MUMBAI: Padmalaya animation division director Rajeev Sangari has joined Maya Entertainment Limited (MEL) as chief operating officer. Sangari was also serving as the president of Zee Institute of Creative Arts (ZICA).
The fate of Padmalaya’s animation and other businesses stand uncertain. Recently, Zee Telefilms Limited (ZTL) had made allegations against founder-promoters of Padmalaya companies’ for fraudulent acts. ZTL had also sought market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) intervention.
Confirming Sangari’s appointment, Maya Entertainment chief executive officer Rajesh Turakhia told indiantelevision.com that Sangari was taken in at a time when the company was in expansion mode.
“We are planning expansion in the education field where we already have 40 animation academic centres. Our 3D outsourcing contracts are also increasing. Sangari is expected to speed up these processes,” said Turakhia.
Padmalaya announced a $19 million animation deal with Mondo TV group in March 2004, which never took of. According to an industry source, several animators working in Padmalaya are now looking for jobs.
MUMBAI: History is getting a fresh rewrite this time with code, creativity and a longer arc in mind. Lens Vault Studios has announced its first original production, Bal Tanhaji, marking the official entry of the newly launched, tech-driven studio into India’s evolving entertainment landscape.
Arriving six years after the box-office success of Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior, the new project expands the universe rather than revisiting familiar ground. Bal Tanhaji explores uncharted narrative territory, signalling a clear shift from one-off cinematic spectacles to long-format, world-building storytelling designed for digital-first audiences.
At the heart of this ambition is Prismix Studios, the in-house generative AI and technology arm powering the creative engine behind the show. The studio’s approach blends storytelling with next-generation tools, aiming to reimagine how Indian IPs are created, scaled and sustained beyond theatrical releases.
For Lens Vault Studios chairman Ajay Devgn the new venture represents a deliberate step beyond traditional cinema. The focus is firmly on building long-form intellectual properties across fiction and non-fiction, tailored to changing viewing habits and platform-led consumption. He said the studio intends to explore formats that remain largely untapped, while drawing on the team’s experience with large-scale cinematic storytelling.
Lens Vault Studios founder and CEO Danish Devgn echoed that sentiment, describing Bal Tanhaji as the studio’s first generative-AI-led IP and the starting point of a broader vision. The aim, he noted, is to carry forward the legacy of the Tanhaji universe while connecting with younger audiences through a blend of powerful narratives and emerging technologies.
With Bal Tanhaji, Lens Vault Studios is planting its flag early not just launching a show, but signalling a larger play for cinematic universes that live, grow and evolve across platforms. If this debut is any indication, the future of Indian storytelling may be as much about imagination as it is about innovation.
