Eros Universe and IIT Madras Unveil 'Portrait of Many Faces', Documenting India's Quiet Revolution in Higher Education

Featuring 17 IIT Madras BS Degree students, the trailer was previewed by Union Education Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi. Stream free worldwide on Eros Now.

CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU, INDIA, October 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Eros Universe and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) today announced the release of Portrait of Many Faces, a documentary on the lives of IIT Madras BS Degree students from across India. The film is streaming free on Eros Now worldwide from 12 October 2026. It was screened for the first time today at a premiere screening and media preview at the TTJ Auditorium, ICSR Building, IIT Madras, Chennai.

Ahead of the release, the Honourable Union Minister of Education, Shri Pralhad Joshi, was given a first look at the film's trailer on 7 October 2026 during his visit to IIT Madras. The Minister watched the trailer, congratulated the team on the upcoming release and wished them success.

Produced by IIT Madras and Eros Universe, and directed and edited by Shashwat Mookherjee, an alumnus of the IIT Madras BS Degree programme, Portrait of Many Faces follows students from vastly different social, economic and geographic backgrounds across India. Through intimate journeys into their homes and everyday realities, the film traces how access to a rigorous, flexible education has transformed their aspirations, confidence and futures.

The documentary features 17 students as representative voices. Together, they form a collective portrait of the nearly 50,000 learners enrolled in the programme, revealing not only individual success stories but a quiet revolution in Indian higher education.

Shot entirely across India, the film is interview-driven, letting the students' own voices lead the narrative. The subjects reflect on where they began, the challenges they faced, and how access to this unique degree reshaped their sense of possibility, identity and future. The result is a raw, honest and deeply human film that places lived experience at its centre and captures stories that rarely share the same frame in conventional narratives of higher education.

Shashwat Mookherjee, Director and Editor of Portrait of Many Faces, said:
"From an early age, I wanted to work in cinema while also pursuing higher education, though combining the two once felt improbable. The IIT Madras BS Degree programme made that possible. This film grew out of a desire to give back to a programme that profoundly shaped my journey, and it became a responsibility to document the stories of students whose lives reflect a quiet transformation in Indian education."

Vikram Tanna, CEO, Eros Now and Eros Universe, said:
"Stories like these are what Eros has always believed in: real people, real homes and real aspirations, told with honesty. Portrait of Many Faces shows how access to education can change the trajectory of a life, and how many young Indians are shaping their futures on their own terms. We are proud to partner with IIT Madras to bring these voices to audiences everywhere, free on Eros Now, and grateful to the Hon'ble Union Minister of Education for watching the trailer and encouraging the team."

Prof. Veezhinathan Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, said:
"Swami Vivekananda made a very profound statement about education. If the poor cannot afford education, education must reach the poor. Inspired by this, IIT Madras introduced BS off-campus programs, with more than 25% of students enrolled being below the poverty line. 'Portrait of Many Faces' is a very emotional and thought-provoking documentary which brings to you the success stories of how Vivekananda's statement has been put into practice. I congratulate Shashwat Mookerjee and team for this wonderful effort and wish that this documentary reaches the nook and corner of this planet. Jai Hind."

At its core, Portrait of Many Faces is not only about academic achievement, but about aspiration, resilience and the democratisation of opportunity. By foregrounding real voices and real spaces, it documents a movement that is redefining access to world-class education in India, one interview, one home and one life at a time.

Film Details
Title:- Portrait of Many Faces

Format:- Documentary (interview-driven)

Director and Editor:- Shashwat Mookherjee

Director of Photography:- Anil Singh

Sound Designer:- Manas Bal

Produced by:- IIT Madras and Eros Universe

Executive Producers:- Bharathi Balaji, Andrew Thangaraj, Vignesh Muthuvijyan

Language:- English and Indian regional languages, with English subtitles

Sound Mix:- Dolby Atmos, Dolby 5.1, Stereo

Trailer Preview:- 7 October 2026, IIT Madras, Chennai, by Hon'ble Union Minister of Education Shri Pralhad Joshi

Streaming:- Free on Eros Now worldwide

Premiere Screening and Media Preview:- 15 October 2026, TTJ Auditorium, ICSR Building, IIT Madras, Chennai

About Eros Innovation
Eros Innovation is a Super Intelligence, Sovereign Intelligence and Cultural Intelligence company headquartered in the Isle of Man, with operations across the United Kingdom, India, the United States and the Middle East. Building on more than four decades of Eros' experience in global media and entertainment, including the cultural heritage and intellectual property associated with Eros Media World, Eros Innovation is developing trusted intelligence models, infrastructure and applications for governments, enterprises, creators and consumers.

Founded by Kishore Lulla, Manju Lulla, Ridhima Lulla and Rishika Lulla Singh, Eros Innovation combines more than four decades of experience in entertainment, intellectual property, technology and digital platforms with a new generation of intelligence focused on human capability, culture, language, identity and creativity.

At the core of Eros Innovation is its Large Cultural Model (LCM) family: multimodal intelligence models designed to understand and generate culturally grounded language, visual expression, voice, music, narrative and context. Eros' intelligence programme draws on a proprietary corpus of approximately 1.5 trillion rights-cleared, ethically sourced cultural tokens, derived from its extensive library of films, characters, music, dialogue, mythology and cultural knowledge accumulated over four decades. Eros is collaborating with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) across areas of its Cultural Intelligence research programme.

Eros Innovation's intelligence infrastructure supports a portfolio spanning Eros Universe, Eros Brahmand, Eros AI Vidya, Eros Music World, Eros Wellness and Eros Experiences, alongside sovereign and enterprise intelligence solutions. Together, these businesses apply advanced intelligence across the creator economy, entertainment, education, wellness, tourism, immersive experiences and digital infrastructure.
Eros Innovation's mission is to build trusted intelligence infrastructure for the emerging era of Super Intelligence, combining foundational intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Sovereign Intelligence and domain-specific intelligence to create responsibly governed systems designed to augment human capability, preserve and advance cultural knowledge, and deploy trusted intelligence at global scale.

About Indian Institute of Technology Madras
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), located in Chennai, is one of India's foremost institutions of higher education and research. Established in 1959, it has been ranked No. 1 in the "Engineering" category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, since 2016, and has been recognised as an Institute of Eminence.
IIT Madras offers four-year BS programmes designed to provide quality education to all, irrespective of age, educational background or location. Course content is delivered online, while quizzes and exams are conducted in person at exam centres across India and abroad, preserving academic rigour on par with the Institute's regular degree programmes. The programmes are structured in multiple levels, allowing learners to exit with a Foundation Certificate from IITM CODE, a Diploma from IIT Madras, or a BSc/BS Degree. IIT Madras currently offers two such programmes: BS in Data Science and Applications, and BS in Electronic Systems. Nearly 50,000 learners are currently enrolled.

Piyush Bhatia
Eros Innovation
Piyush.bhatia@erosinvest.com