Nowadays, when artificial intelligence is being discussed everywhere, there is also a question that is there any place for artificial intelligence in Indian cinema?
In Hollywood, many personalities went on strike due to artificial intelligence, but on the other hand, in the Indian film industry, which consists of hundreds of people, there is not much discussion on this controversial topic.
While few in the Indian film industry are paying much attention to the threat of artificial intelligence, some think it needs to be taken very seriously.
1983 director Shikhar Kapur’s debut film ‘Masoom’ is about a woman who has to accept a child born to her husband from an affair with another woman.
For the sequel to this emotional film, director Shikhar Kapur decided to experiment with an artificial intelligence chatbot ‘ChatGPT’.
Shikhar Kapur was amazed at how well the artificial intelligence understood the moral conflict in the film’s story and had him prepare the script in seconds.
The artificial intelligence-driven script showed the child being angry with his father and the relationship between the father and son in the film is somewhat different from the first film.
Shikhar Kapur says the future with artificial intelligence will be ‘chaotic’ as machines will do the same tasks in seconds that scriptwriters do in weeks.
According to a 2019 report by Deloitte, India is the world’s largest film industry in terms of films produced annually, employing around 850,000 people.
As artificial intelligence tools improve and deepfake videos of celebrities including Alia Bhatt and Rashmika Mandana surface on the Internet, the use of artificial intelligence is raising economic and ethical questions.
The use of artificial intelligence in TV and film production was the main cause of the strike by actors and writers in the US, halting work in Hollywood for several months.
Siddharth Roy Kapur, former president of the Producers Guild of India, says, “There has been no formal conversation about artificial intelligence in India yet, but now is the time to talk about it because AI tools are becoming more and more popular with every passing second.” Getting smart together.’
Siddharth Roy Kapur says, “Where we are today with artificial intelligence will be very different three or six months from now.”
So where is India now?
Ketan Yadav and Harry Hingorani, who run RedChillis.vfx, say, “Artificial intelligence is still a long way from the point where everything can be generated at the push of a button.”
Bollywood Superstar Shah Rukh Khan founded Red Chillies Entertainment almost two decades ago and produced the visual effects of Shah Rukh Khan’s two super hit films ‘Jawan’ and ‘Pathan’ this year.
Ketan Yadav and Harry Hingorani say they are using AI tools for various ideas, but they don’t think it can match the fourK (4K) resolution of a motion picture yet.
But Gohan Senyapan is on a mission to challenge that notion. He is directing a Tamil film ‘Weapon’, which will be India’s first feature film in which two-and-a-half-minute scenes will be created with artificial intelligence.
“We are working on a superhero story with a lot of action and I wanted to tell the story in a new way,” says Senyaappan.
Photos of the lead actor Satyaraj from the film were used to create a younger version of him through artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence was a cheaper alternative to live action, says Gohan Senyapan.
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan was the first to experience artificial intelligence in 2021 when he lent his face and voice to an advertisement that used deepfake technology.
Chocolate company Cadbury’s advertising campaign allowed small businesses to use Shah Rukh Khan’s image and voice to promote their business.
Sukesh Naik of Ogilvy India, the agency that designed the campaign, says that thanks to this one campaign, three lakh advertisements were created across the country.
The agency worked closely with Shah Rukh Khan’s team in a tightly controlled environment and it was ensured that ‘only certain types of businesses would be allowed to register themselves for the campaign’.
Laws and regulations regarding artificial intelligence are yet to be formulated in India, which experts say could easily be misused.
In the same year, Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor won the legal battle to protect his name, voice and face. Anil Kapoor called the decision “very progressive” and said it was good for other actors as well.
“As far as my image, voice and deepfakes are concerned, if they are used, I can immediately send a court order to take them down,” he told Variety magazine.
But there is another side to artificial intelligence.
Some experts believe that artificial intelligence can make the film industry much easier and faster. “Anything that takes less time, artificial intelligence will definitely make the process easier and faster,” says Ketan Yadav.
Can humans and artificial intelligence outperform each other?
Despite the use of artificial intelligence in his film, Gohan Senyapan says that if he had the time and budget, he would have preferred a live-action shoot for his film.
Siddharth Roy Kapur says that “I asked myself who is smart and the answer was ‘me’.” He says that artificial intelligence has no ethics but assumes ethics from data. Artificial intelligence may not create curiosity, fear or love, but it can make filmmaking accessible to everyone.’
“If everyone has the same tools, everyone will have the power to tell a story,” he adds.