Abundantia Entertainment will turn its AI division AiOn into a standalone native AI studio in 2027, after a shift in who is bringing stories to the company. Founder and CEO Vikram Malhotra told Deadline that the change is a response to a sharp rise in pitches from outside the conventional film business.
The signal: outsider pitches tripled
Over the last six months, Malhotra said he received three times as many story pitches from people who have never written, made films or belonged to the traditional filmmaking ecosystem. That inflow is the core number behind the decision.
He pointed to creators such as Curry Barker of Obsession and Kane Parsons of Backrooms as signs that ideas are being democratised. Abundantia’s stance, he said, is “human-first and AI-empowered.”
What AiOn will do
From 2027, AiOn will develop its own stories, create its own content, produce fully generated and hybrid work, and manage the entire ecosystem. Malhotra said the structure will mirror Abundantia’s standalone studio, even though AiOn stays inside the parent company for now.
- Develop and own stories, not just supply AI production services.
- Produce fully generated and hybrid films and series.
- Manage the full value chain from creative development to screen.
- Keep its own identity while drawing on Abundantia’s learnings.
Malhotra said the capability to run AI at studio level will not come only from conventional media, calling it “a confluence of technology and art.” He will lead AiOn in the near term.
Why this is a pipeline play
The more important frame for media buyers is that Abundantia is positioning AI as a way to widen the creative funnel, not just cut cost. Malhotra described AI as “an amplifier of imagination and an accelerator of growth,” aimed at reducing the cost of going wrong.
That is a different KPI. Instead of asking whether AI can make an existing project cheaper, the question becomes whether AI can surface enough distinctive ideas to offset the risk of rejection. Abundantia is actively scouting YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp for voices that would not have reached a studio through the old system.
For media planners and entertainment marketers, that changes talent discovery. Campaign-ready IP may surface first on short-video and creator platforms, so early scouting data can matter as much as commissioning announcements.
What to watch next
The proof will be in the slate. Abundantia has two films underway with InVideo and three scripts with defined filmmakers, timelines and budgets in development. Hybrid project Jai Santoshi Mata is set to go on floors early next year.
Traditional output remains healthy: Maa Behen topped Netflix India’s trending list in its release week and reached No. 2 among global non-English films. Malhotra’s market read is that Indian audiences are rewarding novelty while rejecting projects faster—there is no ceiling on success and no floor on failure. The structural bet is on new voices, and the test is whether AI-era pitches convert into commissioned IP that audiences actually pay to watch.
Source: Deadline
