Updated on: 15 May 2026, 7:41 am
Alfred Hitchcock famously said, “To make a great film you need three things — the script, the script and the script.”
Before the cameras roll, a film begins with a story, the soul, the one thing that can turn a small production into a phenomenon or leave a big-budget one forgotten.
What if there were a way to understand how audiences might respond to a story even before the film is made? The thought led Kochi-born IT entrepreneur Aadhith Kalathil Bose to create Kalezio, an AI-based platform that analyses movie scripts and simulates audience reactions. Based in Tauranga, New Zealand, Aadhith has launched the platform with Malayalam cinema as its first testing ground.
The idea came during a brief break from his career, when, to pass the time, he began dabbling in writing.
“I used to write when I was younger. But as I started working, I lost time to explore that side of me. This year, I took some time off and wrote a movie script for some friends who are into filmmaking,” he says.
It was then that he wished for some unbiased feedback about the script.
“Our friends or family may not always be able to provide an objective view of our work. We look for validation when we create something, and I was really curious to know if what I had written was any good,” he says, adding that he then decided to create a platform that could do the work instead.
And so in a matter of months, with help from his team, Kalezio was born.
The platform works by allowing people to upload their scripts and test them against simulated audience groups. Up to 10,000 AI-generated audience agents are used in the process. Each of these agents represents a diverse demographic — different age groups, genders, regions, and viewing preferences. They react to the story, engage with emotional moments, and even influence each other’s opinions, mimicking how real audiences discuss films and shape word-of-mouth responses.
The system then generates what’s called a ‘Greenlight Report’, offering insights into emotional engagement, audience scores and demographic responses. The aim is not to replace human creativity or instinct, but to provide creators with an understanding before they present their script or invest heavily into production.
“Doing so in the beginning itself lets a filmmaker make necessary changes if required at the scripting stage itself,” he says.
He points out that Malayalam cinema was chosen intentionally as the starting point because audience behaviour here is distinct. Unlike other industries, Malayalam audiences often respond strongly to realism, socially rooted storytelling, and even experimentation. The platform is designed to understand these patterns, and it maps how opinions evolve through group conversations and audience discussions after a film’s release.
Aadhith considers the platform, an online version of the ‘test screening’ practised in Hollywood, where a script is enacted, or a film is showcased to a closed audience to gauge their reactions.
“Since 1977, Hollywood producers have been investing in movies based on the results of test screenings. Kalezio makes this process easier and cost-effective,” he says.
The platform also focuses on protecting uploaded scripts. According to Aadhith, all submissions are backed by privacy safeguards and copyright protection measures. Users also receive a certificate of submission that acts as proof of ownership for their scripts.
While the platform is currently launched with a focus on Malayalam cinema, expansion plans are already in place for Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages, he says.
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