Kuku, which has built a substantial presence in Indian digital entertainment through its audio and short-form video platforms, is stepping into theatrical cinema for the first time with “Indian Institute of Zombies,” a Hindi-language horror comedy due in cinemas on May 8.
The film unfolds on an elite engineering campus, weaving together zombie horror, youth comedy and social satire. Kuku is positioning it as a genre first for Indian cinema, with the theatrical setting central to its strategy – the company sees the communal big-screen experience as distinct from, rather than an extension of, its existing digital offerings.
The ensemble cast includes Jessie Lever, Anupriya Goenka, Mohan Kapur, Ranjan Raj, Shivani Paliwal, Shantanu Anam, Rose Sardana, Sachin Kavetham and Tanishq Chaudhary, among others. The screenplay was written by Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal, whose previous credits include “Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva” and “Farzi.” Direction is by Gaganjeet Singh and Alok Dwivedi of Low Gravity Productions, a team with a background in streaming series and ad films.
The story originated internally at Kuku, with the project framed as the opening move in what the company intends to be a growing theatrical slate.
Kuku’s two main platforms occupy distinct corners of the Indian digital market. Kuku FM has scaled into a major destination for audio storytelling, while Kuku TV has carved out a following among younger audiences through the microdrama format, delivering narratives built for mobile viewing.
“Kuku has always been obsessed with how India consumes stories,” said Lal Chand Bisu, CEO of Kuku. “We built scale in personal consumption through Kuku FM and created a new microdrama category in India with Kuku TV. Theatres for us represent the next frontier and we are excited to make our first steps in it. ‘Indian Institute of Zombies’ marks the first of our many, rooted in youth culture, genre innovation and mass Indian tastes.”
Alongside its creative ambitions, the company is also making a case for artificial intelligence as a structural part of how it makes films. Rather than deploying AI at the margins, Kuku says it has built the technology into the project’s foundations – informing how the story was developed and structured, how production logistics were modelled, and how creative decisions were tested and refined throughout the process.
Kunj Sanghvi, senior VP at Kuku, explained the thinking behind both the genre choice and the technology strategy. “‘Indian Institute of Zombies’ is a film for everyone who has ever been on a college campus. We hope our audiences get to experience their adventurous and brave side as they watch this hilarious film on zombies. We observed the success rates of horror comedies at the cinemas, the lack of a breakout Indian zombie film yet and the insatiable appetite for campus stories across age groups in India,” he said.
“We don’t see AI as a replacement for creativity, but more as an amplifier. By deeply integrating AI into our filmmaking process, we’re able to iterate faster, visualize better and make sharper decisions earlier,” he added.
Leave a Reply