The Media Room
The Media Room
Podcast Description
Join Vanita Kohli-Khandekar as she takes you through a unique behind the scenes look at the inner workings and machinations of the media and entertainment business. She will speak to experts, film makers, media barons, broadcasters, publishers, platforms, media analysts, and more, to give you insights on the intersection of storytelling, money, technology and communication in this rapidly evolving space.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast explores various themes including the dynamics of the media industry, the evolution of storytelling, and the impact of technology on communication. Specific episode examples include discussions on the linearisation of streaming services featuring industry analysts, and the resilience of the newspaper industry with insights from a corporate director.
Join Vanita Kohli-Khandekar as she takes you through a unique behind the scenes look at the inner workings and machinations of the media and entertainment business. She will speak to experts, film makers, media barons, broadcasters, publishers, platforms, media analysts, and more, to give you insights on the intersection of storytelling, money, technology and communication in this rapidly evolving space.
In this episode of The Media Room, host Vanita Kohli-Khandekar sits down with filmmaker Ram Madhvani (Neerja, Aarya, Equinox Virtual) and producer Vikram Malhotra (Abundantia Entertainment – Airlift, Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shakuntala Devi; aiON AI studio) to explore how artificial intelligence, VR and data are reshaping Indian cinema and the business of content. From Ram’s vision of “making your temple the theatre” through immersive VR films at destinations like Tirupati, Shirdi and Ajanta–Ellora, to Vikram’s bet on aiON as a human-first, AI-empowered creative studio that could cut production budgets by up to 50–90% and shrink timelines to a fraction, the conversation dives deep into what the next era of storytelling might look like.
They debate whether technology truly “liberates art” or risks locking creators into algorithm-driven templates and data-led handcuffs, raising tough questions around originality, copyright, valuation and “data colonisation” in a world where most AI systems are trained on Western content. At the same time, they discuss how AI can democratise access to tools, enable culturally rooted stories like a contemporary Jai Santoshi Mata, and open up new possibilities in genres like horror, while still keeping the human voice at the centre. If you’re a creator, filmmaker, media professional or simply curious about where cinema and content are headed, this episode is a sharp, honest look at the promise and perils of AI in storytelling—and why, even in an attention-fragmented world of reels and algorithms, the stories we choose to tell still matter.
(00:00) Introduction
(02:10) Ram – VR temple films
(05:11) Vikram – aiON launch
(08:45) AI cuts cost & time
(11:28) Tech liberates art
(15:08) AI & creativity debate
(18:34) Data colonisation & culture
(24:55) Cost, algo & valuation
(30:20) Ram’s VR vision
(35:31) AION films & India’s edge
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