Film Production
Viacom’s Cineshorts: Big break to Bollywood for students
MUMBAI: To promote its upcoming release Mary Kom, Viacom18 announced a short film contest early last month called Cineshorts allowing aspiring filmmakers and documentary makers to submit five-minute long films on the theme ‘Against All Odds’.
With cash prize worth Rs 1,00,000 for the winner and a chance to be premiered on Pepsi MTV Indies, the registrations have touched the 400 registration mark and the deadline for submission has been pushed to 30 September from 15 August.
Viacom18 Motion Pictures marketing head Rudrarup Dutta said, “As a studio, it is our constant endeavor to identify and promote fresh talent in the industry. Cineshorts is an initiative that provides an exclusive opportunity for budding filmmakers. We believe this is an effective platform for us to identify new talent and nurture an ecosystem that allows fresh talent to contribute new vision and fresh ideas.”
Cineshorts was held in seven cities targeting a total of 28 colleges across Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Manipal, Bangalore, Pune, Delhi/ NOIDA and Kolkata. MICA, Government Film and Television Institute, Indian Institute of Mass Media and Communication, St. Xavier’s College, Manipal Institute of Communication, Whistling Woods International School of Film-making, and Symbiosis College (BBM) were among other colleges that participated in Cineshorts.
The contest will see short movies made on a number of themes. While one participant, a 22-year old BCom graduate, Raj Sampad is making a docu-fiction Dreaming With Sand, based on the real life story of the most famous sand sculptor in India, Padma Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik, Yogendra Kumaria’s movie focuses on the common man, who has to fight against the rising expenditure and inflation every month, and finally comes out as a winner.
Different participants also revealed various motivations to take part in the contest.Wwhile for some the Rs 1,00,000 cash prize was the focus, others concentrated more on the chance to showcase their work on television.
A student of MGR Govt Film and Television Institute, Janardhan Chikkanna said, “As a short film maker what attracted me towards the competition is the platform to reach a wider audience, which would have been very difficult to reach on my own.”
Adding to that another participant, Narsee Monjee College graduate Devansh Doshi said, “The motivation for applying is to have professionals see your work and guide you for your future films. It also serves as a great platform for communicate with people of similar interests. Cineshorts has helped me to bring forward my film to a lot of people who have been a part of the industry for years.”
The contest, according to Dutta is solely a Viacom18 Motion Pictures initiative. Speaking on the same he added, “Cineshorts is a Viacom18 Motion Pictures registered property that we plan to nurture and cultivate on a regular basis. The start of this initiative was with Mary Kom but there will be a second season, so to speak, every six months or a year with an upcoming project on our slate. The plan is to up the ante for contestants with every edition and to release the best short film before the feature film so that we can establish the crux of the feature film as well as give the aspiring filmmaker a theatrical release reaching out to a wide audience.”
The campaign is mainly targeting young, aspiring filmmakers who may otherwise not receive a competitive outlet to display their work. “The initiative caters to all Bollywood lovers who want to make it big in the industry without the crutches of family legacy or a godfather,” Dutta reckoned.
Commenting on the marketing and promotion of the campaign, the marketing head revealed,” Since this concept was targeted towards youth, we advertised on platforms that they haunt daily, therefore a large investment on the digital front was the obvious choice. A teaser that said ‘Movie Banane ke Liye Talent Chahiye, Babaji ki Jooti Nahi!’ led the campaign on digital video platforms. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter ensured both awareness as well as engagement. Also, the association with the film Mary Kom helped in garnering attention and traction with a wide cross section of the TG.”
The company also carried out on ground promotions with seminars in colleges that have it as part of their syllabi for mass media and film courses.
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
