Hindi
Ritesh Batra’s ‘Lunchbox’ awarded at APSA
NEW DELHI: Director Ritesh Batra won the best award for Screenplay in Lunchbox and also the Grand Jury Prize at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Brisbane recently.
The film – which has already won a large number of laurels worldwide – had recently also won three awards at the 56th Asia-Pacific Film Festival award ceremony held in Macau.
Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal was chairman of the jury for the annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards where Anurag Kashyap’s film Ugly had also been entered in competition. Other jury members were Korean screenwriter and director Kim Tae-yong, “Queen of Sri Lankan Cinema” actress of stage and screen Hon Dr Malani Fonseka, Turkish actor Tamer Levent, Swiss director Christoph Schaub and Hong Kong producer Albert Lee. The preview committee included film critic Meenakshi Shedde from India.
The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative of the State Government of Queensland, Australia, through Events Queensland, to honour and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of Asia-Pacific to a global audience and to realise the objectives of UNESCO to promote and preserve the respective cultures through the influential medium of film.
Staged for the first time in 2007, APSA collaborates with UNESCO and FIAPF – the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, which is the body that recognises international film festivals. Winners are determined by an international jury and films are judged on cinematic excellence and the way in which they attest to their cultural origins. APSA takes the works of filmmakers across more than 70 countries and areas in the Asia-Pacific region to new international audiences.
The FIAPF Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film was given to Korean film producer Lee Choon-yun by FIAPF Executive Member and Film Federation of India Secretary General Supran Sen. This award celebrates a filmmaker from the region whose career and actions strongly contribute to the development of the film industry.
The awards are the Asia Pacific region’s highest accolade in film, recognising and promoting cinematic excellence and cultural diversity of the world’s fastest growing film region: comprising 70 countries and areas, 4.5 billion people, and responsible for half of the world’s film output.
There were a total of over 230 films from 41 countries and areas, including Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film submissions from an unprecedented 19 countries.
Hindi
Kridhan Infra enters film production with AI-led feature film
Infra firm debuts AI-powered film marking RSS centenary
MUMBAI: Kridhan Infra Limited is swapping hard hats for headsets. The infrastructure company has announced its entry into film production and media technology through its subsidiary, Kridhan Mediatech Private Limited, with the nationwide theatrical release of Shatak: Sangh Ke 100 Varsh, an AI-led feature film.
With Shatak, the company is not just stepping into cinema but staking a claim in what it describes as one of the world’s early full-length AI-driven feature films. Artificial Intelligence has been embedded across the creative and production process, from script visualisation and environment creation to modelling and production design.
The film commemorates 100 years of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, tracing defining moments, personalities and historical phases that shaped its journey. By combining archival storytelling with algorithm-powered creativity, the project attempts to blend heritage with high technology.
For Kridhan Mediatech, this is only the opening scene. The subsidiary’s broader ambition spans AI, CGI, virtual production systems and scalable content models for both theatres and digital platforms. The move signals a strategic diversification for Kridhan Infra, traditionally rooted in engineering and construction.
The timing aligns with India’s growing push to become a global AI powerhouse. At the 2026 AI Impact Summit, prime minister Narendra Modi urged innovators to design in India and deliver to the world. Kridhan Mediatech’s initiative positions itself squarely within that narrative, aiming to export technology-enabled storytelling beyond domestic audiences.
India’s media and entertainment industry, valued at over Rs 2.5 lakh crore, alongside a rapidly expanding AI economy projected to cross Rs 1.4 lakh crore in the coming years, offers fertile ground at the intersection of cinema and code.
“With Shatak, we proudly present one of the world’s first AI-led full-length feature films while marking our strategic entry into film production and media technology through our subsidiary,” the company said in a statement. “Our vision is to combine India’s rich narrative heritage with forward-looking innovation. This is just the beginning of building globally competitive, technology-enabled cinematic experiences.”
From infrastructure to imagination, Kridhan’s latest venture suggests that in today’s India, even storytelling can be engineered.
