Cinefai Studios impresses Shark Tank India judges with AI-made superhero films of their avatars

When Cinefai Studios walked into Shark Tank India, the sharks didn’t just watch a pitch, it watched a film.

Founded by Akanksha Dubey and Shivam Sharma, Cinefai is a Gen-AI-powered content studio working on episodic storytelling, including one of the most talked-about AI-led reinterpretations of the Ramayana. The founders positioned Cinefai as a studio that blends open-source AI tools with a custom storyboarding agent, allowing faster, lower-cost content creation without traditional production pipelines.

To demonstrate their capability, the founders screened an AI-generated film created specifically for the Sharks. The response was immediate—the Sharks were visibly impressed by the visual quality, pacing, and ambition of the project.

Launched in March 2025, Cinefai Studios shared that it had already generated Rs 50 lakh in revenue, operating at nearly 70% profit margins. The founders entered the Tank seeking Rs 1 crore for 5% equity, valuing the company at Rs 20 crore.

The Sharks began questioning whether Cinefai was currently a scalable business or still an early creative experiment. Concerns were raised around the founders’ clarity on long-term execution, repeatability, and whether episodic AI storytelling could translate into a sustainable studio model.

Despite the doubts, the potential of AI-led content creation remained hard to ignore. Ritesh Agarwal stepped in with a structured offer, investing Rs 50 lakh for 5% equity, along with Rs 50 lakh as debt at 9% interest for five years. The founders accepted the deal.