International
PVR to release Zero Dark Thirty and Midnight’s Children in Feb
MUMBAI: PVR Pictures, the flagship film production and distribution arm of PVR Group, announced the release dates of two big films in February 2013.
The first is Kathryn Bigelow‘s Zero Dark Thirty. The film is the story of history‘s greatest manhunt for the world‘s most dangerous man. It is slated to release in India on the 15 February.
Zero Dark Thirty is a chronicle of the decade-long hunt for the al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the 11 September attacks of 2001, and his death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs in May 2011.
The film has bagged four nominations at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards. These include Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) – Jessica Chastain, Best Director (Motion Picture) – Kathryn Bigelow and Best Screenplay (Motion Picture) – Mark Boal.
Directed by Oscar winning director Kathryn Bigelow; the film stars Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Chriss Pratt, James Gandolfini, Edgar Ramirez and Mark Strong.
Deepa Mehta‘s Midnight‘s Children based on the Booker Prize winning novel by Salman Rushdie is slated to release on 1 February.
The film features Satya Bhabha, Shahana Goswami, Rajat Kapoor, Seema Biswas, Shriya Saran, Siddharth, Ronit Roy, Rahul Bose, Anupam Kher, Darsheel Safary, Soha Ali Khan, Shabana Azmi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
Other films releasing under the PVR banner include The Impossible, Now You See Me and Broken City among others.
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.
