Abundantia Entertainment and InVideo Begin Production on AI-Driven Film Beta Builder
Abundantia Entertainment and video creation platform InVideo have started production on Beta Builder, the first feature film to emerge from their partnership focused on AI-assisted filmmaking. Directed by Hridaye A. Nagpal, the film began shooting in Mumbai on October 29, 2026. Its production will bring together conventional live-action filmmaking and generative AI tools, signalling an ambitious new direction for Indian cinema.
The project is the first title in a planned slate of five AI-driven feature films. Announced in February 2026, the collaboration includes a commitment from InVideo to invest Rs 100 crore over three years. Abundantia brings its experience in film development and production, while InVideo contributes technology designed to support creative work across the filmmaking process.
A Story Connecting Dharavi and Virtual Reality
Beta Builder follows Jai, a self-taught architect from Dharavi who gets the chance to pursue his ambitions in the fast-evolving world of virtual reality. As he tries to establish himself, Jai must navigate the obstacles of a system that limits his opportunities. His journey also involves fighting for the person he loves and making sure his community has a voice in decisions that could shape its future.
The premise places a personal story of aspiration within a wider conversation about access, representation and who gets to build the worlds of tomorrow. Dharavi’s lived realities and the possibilities of virtual space provide contrasting settings, while also raising a shared question: who has the power to shape the places and communities people call home?
That mix of grounded social context and technological imagination gives the film a distinctive foundation. Rather than treating virtual reality as an escape from everyday life, the story appears to connect it to questions of identity, opportunity and belonging. Jai’s ambition is individual, but the future he is pursuing has consequences for the people around him.
How AI Fits Into the Production
The filmmakers say AI will work alongside a live-action shoot, rather than replace the human-led elements of production. The approach reflects a growing interest in using generative tools to expand what filmmakers can visualise and create. Depending on how they are applied, such technologies can support the development of environments, images and other creative material, while directors and artists continue to guide the film’s storytelling and visual choices.
For the Indian film industry, Beta Builder will be watched as an early test of how AI-assisted methods can be incorporated into a feature-length production. The key challenge for any such project is balancing technical experimentation with a compelling story. Viewers ultimately respond to characters, emotion and narrative—not simply the tools used to make a film. The project’s focus on Jai and his community gives the technology a story-driven context.
AI in cinema is also prompting questions about creative control, the contribution of artists and the future of filmmaking roles. As the technology develops, productions will need to show how these tools can support creative teams responsibly and transparently. Beta Builder offers Abundantia and InVideo an opportunity to explore that balance through a commercial feature rather than a technology demonstration.
Producers and Director Share Their Vision
Vikram Malhotra, Founder and CEO of Abundantia Entertainment, said the partnership with InVideo and Sanket Shah is intended to use AI to tell stories that are distinctive, impactful and entertaining. He described Beta Builder as a film rooted in a relatable young world while exploring possibilities beyond the familiar. Malhotra also praised Nagpal’s combination of creative vision and technological understanding, calling him well suited to lead the project.
Malhotra added that Abundantia’s AI division, aiON, is helping bring new stories and storytellers forward. The ambition, he said, is to develop work that can connect with audiences in India and around the world. That goal places the film within a broader effort to explore how emerging production tools might widen the range of stories that can be made and shared.
InVideo CEO Sanket Shah said the company’s mission has been to put powerful creative tools in the hands of storytellers. He described Beta Builder as that mission taking shape in a full-length film, made in collaboration with a production company of Abundantia’s experience. The story’s emphasis on building something lasting, he added, makes it a fitting first project for the slate.
Director Hridaye A. Nagpal, who is also InVideo’s Global Creative Lead, said AI-assisted filmmaking could allow storytellers to imagine larger-scale ideas and make bold concepts more achievable. He described the partnership as providing filmmakers with creative support and production scale, with Beta Builder designed to place live-action filmmaking and AI side by side.
A New Experiment for Bollywood and Indian Cinema
The production arrives as Bollywood and the wider Indian film industry consider how rapidly advancing technology may influence storytelling, visual design and production workflows. AI is already part of conversations across entertainment, but moving from individual tools to a complete feature film brings a different set of creative and practical demands. The results of Beta Builder could therefore offer useful insight into how technology can serve a story without becoming the story itself.
Its themes may also help the film reach audiences beyond those interested in filmmaking technology. Ambition, love, social barriers and community representation are familiar dramatic concerns, while the virtual-reality setting gives the narrative a contemporary edge. The contrast between Dharavi and a digital world could invite viewers to think about how technology might reproduce existing inequalities—or create new ways for people to participate in shaping their futures.
With production now underway in Mumbai, Beta Builder marks the first practical step in Abundantia Entertainment and InVideo’s five-film collaboration. Its eventual impact will depend on how effectively its creative team combines the human scale of Jai’s story with the possibilities of generative AI. For now, the film stands as a notable experiment in Indian cinema: a live-action feature that aims to use emerging technology in service of an emotionally grounded story.
