Indian cinema is setting the pace for the use of AI across the globe, beating Hollywood's cautious approach to the emergence of the new technology. With the aid of tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT, filmmakers are now able to create storyboards, write screenplays, and even produce final visuals at unprecedented speeds. That's because India produces more than any other country in the world and, consequently, needs to cut costs wherever possible. It's changing everything from pre-production to visual effects.
Director Vivek Anchalia epitomizes the change with "Naisha," India's first fully AI-generated feature film, scheduled to be released in 2025. Unable to attract funding earlier, he built some stunning visuals and the story elements himself using AI, which attracted interest from producers. Midjourney crafted intimate imagery, while ChatGPT brainstormed plots, enabling Anchalia to refine the shots over a little more than a year.
Big-budget productions seamlessly weave AI into everyday workflows: de-aging veteran actors, cloning voices for dubbing, and pre-shooting visualizations to save time and cut costs. Generative AI drafts screenplays in minutes, predicts box office success via data analysis, and powers virtual sets mimicking international locations sans travel.
The film industry is already experiencing a radical transformation due to deepfakes and motion capture technology by artificial intelligence, where actors are transformed into their younger or digital avatars with minimal use of expensive hardware. The consequence? Superhero movies with cinematic magic at affordable prices without the million-dollar film shoots.
However, there is a certain tension in this rush of AI technology as well. “There’s a great concern that the jobs of editors, writers, and tech crews could be at risk, as technology continues to automate the editing process,” indicates Sekhar Kambamudi, a film expert. Deepfake technology is a source of concern with regard to abuse, and the use of AI technology could make the emotional depth of the content appear less.
India, which produces the largest number of films every year, is walking a thin line between innovation and safety. Unlike the Hollywood labor disputes, Bollywood films, although churning at breakneck speeds, require regulation in terms of authenticity and fair use, according to authorities. With advancements taking place in AI, a new dimension is going to arrive, where human innovation and AI’s efficiency will integrate in ways that have never been witnessed before.
