Lights, camera, …. and algorithm

If your business wants to promote its brand through a one-minute video on social media or television, it usually requires a budget of around 10 to 15 lakh rupees. An agency must assemble a production crew, actors and post-production staff, and the process can take a week or more.

But all this can be done at a fraction of the cost and quickly, even within hours, if you harness the power of artificial intelligence.

And that is what a small creative team working under the banner Kanavu Kadha, based in Trivandrum, say they are  doing. Using AI tools, they create advertisements, social media reels and visual story pitches within hours. More companies are now relying on this method, says the founder of the platform Akhil Vinayak, indicating the impact of AI on this sector. 

Kanavu Kadha, which bills itself as Kerala’s first AI advertising agency, says they have made such short ads for major establishments like the Lulu group and has cultivated a strong follower base on Instagram, extending their reach to lakhs of people.

It has also worked with movie productions, helping directors with pre-visualisation and helping to create versions of scenes to decide on areas like makeup, wardrobe and settings. One of their latest such project was with the sequel Aadu 3 and they have already uploaded a glimpse of their work on social media.

Kanavu Kadha is now widening its horizons. It is currently working with a Bollywood team on a feature film made entirely with AI. Akhil says the project was originally conceived as a 70-crore-rupee traditional movie project, but is now being completed for about 7 crore rupees.

Digital Path: Thirty-year-old Akhil, a photography enthusiast during his school days in Trivandrum, began his journey a few years ago by posting short AI-generated videos on social media. His Instagram account alone now has around 670,000 followers and a platform that attracts brands seeking visibility.

Kanavu Kadha was formally registered as a company in 2023 and has since expanded to include Safwan KS as AI visualiser, Sreejith GS as graphic designer, Mishal V as AI visualiser and Tharasvin Rudra handling vocals and script work. The team regularly posts videos on Instagram and often uses deepfakes of celebrities to deliver innocuous messages and short humorous clips, and has clocked millions of views.

Their entry into AI advertising came towards the end of 2023 when they created a video for Keerthi Nirmal Rice that went viral. According to Akhil, a similar advertisement produced through conventional methods would have cost around 200,000 rupees at prevailing production rates. Kanavu Kadha delivered the video for about 25,000 rupees, including their fee.

Cost Disruption: “Actually the demand for such lower-cost productions existed for a while, but the supply side was not delivering,” Akhil says. “The technology was complex. Building characters, faces and movements from scratch often produced patchy results.”

The rapid evolution of generative AI tools has since changed that landscape. Early platforms such as DALL-E and Midjourney initially offered only basic outputs, but recent advancements have significantly improved the quality of images and videos that can be generated.

Now many agencies and individuals offer such services and there is a rising demand for such videos, especially vertical reels for social media. 

Film industry too has increased the use of such tools along with visual effects (VFX) technology while Television channels are also using AI widely. Akhil says there is demand for talented people who have mastered the skill and junior AI artists command as much as 1.5 lakh rupees per month as salary. 

Reach Factor: Kanavu Kadha has wide reachon Instagram and many companies contact them to promote their brand through their page. Such collaborative ventures has made their company sustainable and Kanavu Kadha expects a revenue of 1.5 crore rupees in the 2026 financial year.  In addition to that some clients ask for ad videos to be created using AI.

Work with movie crew involves more involvement. Directors and scriptwriters describe scenes to AI team, who generate visuals using the likeness of intended actors, references for locations and the action the director has in mind. Once these are approved, the rest of the crew – from costume designers and makeup artists to cinematographers – can work with a clearer visual blueprint.

The technology can also change how certain scenes are produced. Shots involving large crowds, elaborate sets or difficult locations can be created digitally and blended with live footage, reducing the need for expensive outdoor shoots.

At a time when the cost of producing Malayalam films continues to climb, such pre-visualisation tools can save both time and money. According to Akhil, many Malayalam filmmakers, including some veterans, have begun experimenting with AI-assisted workflows.

Jobs at Risk: Like many technological shifts before it, the growing use of AI in video production also raises concerns about job displacement. Tasks that once required large teams may increasingly be handled on computers and that could eventually lead to job losses. At the same time, the technology lowers the entry barrier for creators who previously lacked access to professional production resources, opening new opportunities for them.

Akhil says the technology is still evolving. “Right now AI can deliver maybe about 70 percent of the perfection we want,” he says. “But improvements are happening very quickly. Almost every month we see major jumps in capability.”

He feels movie makers cannot resist these changes, though Hollywood has taken a strong position against the use of AI and copyright issues remain a thorny question. But total rejection of AI, he says, is similar to the opposition to computerisation a few decades ago.

“There will be disruptions, but you will not win by rejecting AI completely.”

Dark Uses: AI video creation is also opening up unusual and sometimes controversial uses. In some parts of India, companies now offer services that digitally recreate people who have passed away, placing them in videos that are played during weddings, birthday celebrations or family events. But Akhil says this has not become popular in Kerala, like in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Telangana.  

Such practices raise legal and ethical questions about consent, digital rights and emotional impact. In India, discussions around regulating AI-generated likenesses are still evolving. Recent Indian rules require platforms such as Meta or Instagram to take down AI-generated images or videos created without a person’s consent once a complaint is filed.

The easy access to AI tools has also seen a proliferation of deepfakes, and some criminals have begun using them as a money spinner, leading to proliferation of deepfake nudes and revenge porn. As video creation becomes easier, such activities could increase.

Road Ahead: Akhil and his team want to establish an AI video college, where they can not only teach the skills involved but also ensure that new users understand the ethics and legality of the videos they create. Most of the enquiries they get are from those who want to learn making reels for social media and only a few want to master the craft of story-telling.

They say they are often approached by people seeking to create questionable or misleading videos – requests the team says it refuses.

For Akhil and his colleagues, however, the technology represents a rapidly expanding creative frontier. As AI capabilities grow, small teams equipped with laptops and software may increasingly produce visual content that once required entire production houses.

Thekku Island finds global fans

Remember the Kerala boys who created the horror game Thekku Island? Their game has created a wave after it was downloaded 1,000 times within 48 hours of its release. Official figures on game streaming platform Steam show it also got an 88 percent rating. More than the numbers, even more exciting validation came from gaming stars like US-based Twitch streamer CaseOh, whose dramatic video of him playing the game brought significant attention to it. The gamer has a large worldwide following with 7+ million subscribers and won the Best High-Energy Humor Streamer Award at the 2023 and 2024 Streamer Awards. Kerala gaming star Eagle has also given the game a big thumbs up, and his video too has garnered a lot of attention.

Adithyan PS, who handles game operations for Thekku Island, says the reception from the gaming community has been overwhelming and the team has been constantly tweaking the game after getting feedback from players across the world. But he also says the scourge of piracy is rearing its head, with people creating cheap copies of their game and offering them on the web. He says they hope gamers who value quality and want to support upcoming youngsters will desist from such acts.

Goyal’s wearable raises 54M

Ever since former CEO of Zomato, Deepinder Goyal, was photographed in November 2025 wearing a mystery device, speculation about this neurotech wearable has been doing the rounds regularly. Now Goyal has revealed that his wearable startup has raised 54 million US dollars from friends and family. The device will be used by elite athletes and the goal is to understand what happens inside the brain during peak performance. He also posted a hiring call recently with an unusual condition: applicants must have body fat below 16 percent (for men) and 26 percent (for women), or commit to getting there within three months on probation. That should set the blood racing for many applicants.

Thumbs up for domestic help app

Bengaluru-based startup Pronto, which provides domestic help through online booking, says demand for its service is growing fast. As per a TechCrunch report, it is now handling 18,000 bookings a day, up sharply from roughly 1,000 daily bookings last year. It sends workers within about 10 minutes to dust, clean, cook and do other household chores. Customers get helpers who are trained and have undergone background verification. The startup has now raised fund worth 25 million US dollars in a Series B round and plans to recruit more workers. It currently has 4,500 active professionals on its platform and wants to expand its footprint to more cities.

More than just margin notes

Historian Ivan Malara, working at Italy’s National Central Library of Florence, appears to have stumbled upon a rare curiosity – a copy of a work by Claudius Ptolemy bearing scribbles that may belong to Galileo Galilei. Malara recognised the astronomer’s handwriting in the margins, and a paper on the find is now under review at the Journal for the History of Astronomy. If confirmed, the discovery could offer new clues about one of science’s great turning points – when Earth was pushed out of the centre of the universe, reports Science.