Abundantia Entertainment to turn AI arm aiON into a standalone film studio

Mumbai-based production company Abundantia Entertainment is turning its artificial intelligence division, aiON, into a standalone film studio that will develop its own stories and produce both fully AI-generated and hybrid films, founder and chief executive Vikram Malhotra announced in the week of 8 October 2026. Its first slate of films is due to begin rolling out in the first quarter of 2027. For now, aiON will stay within Abundantia, with Malhotra in charge, but it is being built with its own identity and scope. "Looking into 2027 and beyond, aiON is being shaped as a fully-integrated, total capability movie studio," Malhotra said.

How Indian cinema adopts AI will shape the jobs and creative choices of writers, artists, technicians and actors. Abundantia is giving AI filmmaking its own studio rather than treating it as a back-office tool. That signals a belief that AI-generated and hybrid films can be a business line of their own, not just a way to speed up visual effects.

Mythological and fantasy stories are an obvious early target. Such stories rely on large imagined worlds. The Hanuman project fits that pattern, and other Indian studios are likely to watch closely how audiences respond.

The move also raises questions the industry is still working through: who owns AI-generated images and voices, how actors' likenesses are protected, and what happens to jobs in animation and post-production. Malhotra's "human first" framing is an attempt to reassure creative workers that AI will support rather than replace them, but the practical answers will depend on how aiON's films are made and credited.

For audiences, the next two to three years will show whether AI-heavy films can match the emotional pull of traditional cinema, or whether they find a niche in animation, devotional and fantasy content.

Short-term: aiON builds its own slate and identity ahead of a first release window in early 2027, while still housed within Abundantia, and its partnership with InVideo moves ahead.

Long-term: If its films succeed, aiON could become a model for AI-first studios in India and push other producers to set up similar units.

Who is affected: Film producers and studios, writers, animators, VFX and post-production workers, actors concerned about their likeness, and audiences of Indian cinema.

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