Weekend Media Blast: Stories, studios and AI— The next global media opportunity

Prime Focus, an India-listed company not covered by Bernstein, is behind the VFX-heavy Ramayana, with its AI venture offshoot Brahma AI using technologies such as frame-by-frame lip-sync to make different language versions feel natural; the global scale of that business and its roughly US$2bn valuation were a surprise. The report asks whether the combination of Indian storytelling and AI-driven production can finally capture a meaningful share of global media value pools and, importantly, create investible companies. India has never lacked stories or audiences — the Ramayana has travelled across India and much of Southeast Asia, and Ramleela, Nukkad Natak and Tamasha remain culturally vital — but it has historically lacked the industrial machinery to turn its stories into truly global entertainment. India churns out movies while Hollywood mints money: Avatar and Avengers: Endgame approach US$3bn each, whereas Dangal, India's most successful film, reached about US$308mn and ranks 602nd