Animation
‘The Simpsons”s now in its sweet 16
MUMBAI: The Simpsons, Fox’s animated series will kick off its 16th season on Sunday in the US. In India the show airs on Star World.
To celebrate the occasion the Rupert Murdoch owned broadcaster has expanded the site – thesimpsons.com. It offers extended biographical sketches of 32 characters from the show, as well as 47 interactive gags and video games. A folder for each character contains custom animation, interactive jokes and games.
The show has gained Brownie points due to its irreverence, wit and willingness to take on anything from politics to religion to family values notwithstanding the strong conservative mood in the US.
Meanwhile a movie version of the show will hit theatres shortly. The films performance could very well decide the fate of the show. A report in The Guardian had earlier indicated that the show could end in 2009 when it completes 20 years of existence.
The shows creator Matt Groening added ” It is a bunch of humans working really hard. It doesn’t get any easier because we’re still faced with the problem of having a history. We are trying not to repeat ourselves and we are also competing with people’s memories of their favourite episode.”
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.
