From de-aging actors and cloning voices to storyboarding, filmmakers across India are taking a shine to AI even as they grapple with its ethical grey zones and legal blind spots
Popular Kannada film director and producer MG Srinivas is a serious AI buff. For more than a year now, he has been experimenting with Artificial Intelligence in his work, from scripting to post-production. After using AI-powered tools to de-age actor Shiva Rajkumar in his film Ghost (2023), purely to achieve what he describes as a ‘cinematic moment’, he opened a branch of an Iranian VFX company, Asoo, in Bengaluru, to dive deeper into de-aging, which seems to be the craze in South cinema.
In a chat with The Federal, Srinivas shares how he got excited about the de-aging technique after seeing Will Smith’s younger clone in the 2019 Hollywood science fiction action thriller Gemini Man, directed by Ang Lee. “Of course, we cannot match Hollywood VFX budgets but many big-budget south films like Vijay’s GOAT, Prabhas’ Kalki (where a younger version of Amitabh Bachchan was created) too used de-aging tools powered by AI, but it had flaws and wasn’t 100 per cent perfect. Neither was my effort in Ghost with Shiva Rajkumar sir.”
“Now, however, technology has gotten better and my dream is to create a perfect match. I’ve partnered with Asoo to achieve this,” he adds. The tech-savvy director, who is currently working on the second part of his planned trilogy, Birbal-Case 2 and another Shiva Rajkumar movie, A for Anand, is eager to explore ways to resurrect legends of South cinema like Rajkumar, NTR and even Puneeth Rajkumar in his upcoming movies. “Fans love to see their heroes back on screen,” he says.
AI to clone voices
That’s not all. Srinivas also used AI to clone Shiva Rajkumar’s voice for the Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions of Ghost. It went off so well, he decided to invest in this technology and launched AI Samhitha, a company which offers voice cloning services.
Other filmmakers are now making a beeline to the voice cloning service. “There is a big demand for voice cloning especially with big budget films which are dubbed in several languages. We have worked with more than 10 films since we opened early last year,” shares Srinivas, adding that one was the 2024 Bhairathi Ranagal, a neo-noir action Kannada thriller with Shiva Rajkumar. His company is now researching ways to perfect the lip-syncing of characters to match the dubbed language in movies.
Kannada film director and producer MG Srinivas used AI-powered tools to de-age actor Shiva Rajkumar in his film Ghost (2023)
Srinivas is only too conscious of this tectonic shift in technology, as he calls it, in the Indian film industry. “We’ve had constant shifts in terms of technology in films. Now, it is AI and frankly, filmmakers need to adapt and upgrade themselves,” states the 40-year old director.
Also read: Vivek Anchalia on Naisha, a full-length AI-powered film, and use of AI in filmmaking
AI has helped to enhance the look of his films and to convey his ‘vision’ to his art director, cinematographer and costume designers. “ It has become easier to show an AI generated visual of what I want to ensure we are all on the same page,” he says.
Initial days of AI
Sumit Purohit, Mumbai-based writer and editor of Sony Liv series, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, however, believes it’s “initial” days of AI in Hindi cinema. “One of the biggest challenges with AI is the continuity. When I create an AI character, the system struggles to recognise the same character in subsequent frames. Facial features tend to change in AI-generated images and continuity becomes an issue. That’s where AI continues to struggle but it’s also evolving every day,” explains Purohit, who uses AI to create trailers for his film pitches.
Purohit, who is writing Season 3 of the Scam series, is also making an AI-driven short sci-fi film. He claims he uses AI tools like Kling, Luma, Runway to generate five to ten second videos. “It’s good as a writing assistant as well. Maybe, one day it will write poetry but right now its material is referential. Once you realise AI’s limitations, you can write a script around it,” he adds.
Mumbai-based writer and editor Sumit Purohit is making an AI-driven short sci-fi film. He says he uses AI tools like Kling, Luma, Runway to generate five to ten second videos.
In his view, AI has always been part of filmmaking. “We’ve been using de-aging to make our actors look younger for a long time but no one talks about it. The arrival of generative AI is, however, revolutionising the workflow. It is now incorporated into the VFX pipeline and artists can really take it to another level,” points out the filmmaker.
Chaitanya Chinchilkar, VP & business head at Whistling Woods International, concurs with Purohit’s view that AI has been around for years. “People are paying attention after generative AI has come to the fore,” Chinchilkar tells The Federal. Today, AI has seamlessly integrated into the filmmaking workflow, he adds.
“It plays a primary role in the workflow involving previsualisation, storyboarding, VFX, production planning management, background scoring etc. With more India-specific training data fed into these AI tools, they are becoming increasingly more effective for Indian filmmakers,” he asserts.
Concerns over ethics
However, even as Indian filmmakers seem to be eagerly embracing AI with ease, concerns are growing over its ethical use, potential job losses and copyright issues. Vivek Anchalia, Hindi film director, who has made a full-length AI film, Naisha admits that he is conscious about the ‘ethics’ involved in AI usage.
“I was very clear from day one that I will not write the name of any well-known actor in my prompts. It has to be what’s known as ‘fair use’ of prompts. So, I self-check and just give a generic prompt to create my characters. For instance, I use generic information in my prompts — a Bengali girl who’s 22-year-old, wearing these kinds of clothes etc.,” Anchalia shares.
Vivek Anchalia, Hindi film director, who has made a full-length AI film, Naisha. He admits that he is conscious about the ‘ethics’ involved in AI usage.
“The key is not to use names of people or celebrities which can then end up invading their privacy and personal space,” he points out. Anchalia is unaware of any guidelines over usage of AI, yet he remains cautious and avoids shortcuts. Additionally, he is unsure whether the Hindi film industry, where this Tikdam director operates in, is preparing for the emergence of AI in any way.
In his view, the industry needs to be consulted if a law has to be implemented. However, Chinchlikar dismisses any problem stemming from this area. “India is far ahead of other countries in terms of protecting the rights of a person. We have two solid court judgements which clearly outline what can and cannot be used,” he asserts.
Copyright issues
Chinchlikar is referring to a judgement given after superstar Amitabh Bachchan approached Delhi High Court in 2022, seeking to curb the unauthorised use of his name, image, and voice for commercial purposes with his consent. A year later, Bollywood star Anil Kapoor, too, went to court, specifically asking his “name, image, voice, likeliness or personality” not to be used in any merchandise or ringtones, or “misused by technological tools such as artificial intelligence, face morphing, GIFs…for creating any videos for commercial purpose”.
Both got relief from the courts and while there is no law or any legislative enactment or policy in India which protects personality rights, Indian courts have cited the right to freedom of expression, right to live with dignity and other Indian Intellectual Property Rights laws, to give these film stars their protection.
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In a 2012 Titan Industries judgement, Delhi High Court has also described who is a celebrity and clarified that the right to control commercial use of human identity is known as the “right to publicity”.
NOCs for voice cloning
In the case of voice cloning, Srinivas protects himself by taking NOCs from artists and the production house. The artist has to explicitly give their consent to clone their voice and sign a few legal documents, he reveals. He admits wryly that the Indian film industry is so unprepared at this point about dealing with these issues. “However, we remain careful and ensure voice cloning is not misused. I call up the artists and confirm again if they have given us the permission,” says Srinivas.
Sumit Purohit's work made with AI.
Amid the AI boom, filmmakers feel the problem does not lie with AI. “The problem is the filmmakers and executives and how they decide to use the tech. When I am generating AI-powered characters and I feel this looks like someone, I will not use that image,” states Purohit. According to him, in Hollywood, VFX studios have to produce certificates revealing the source of their images and references and points out that the responsibility largely lies with the artist not to copy. “Remember, Indian films have been blatantly copying frame to frame from Hollywood for decades without giving credit,” he says with a laugh.
Job losses
As for job losses, Purohit feels that it is bound to happen with any new technology. “Some people will lose their jobs but others will emerge as the technology evolves. That’s how it has been — didn’t negative cutters lose their jobs when film editing went online? The problem here is when we start depending on AI too much and decide not to shoot scenes and turn to AI,” says Purohit.
Srinivas, however, believes AI will lead to the creation of new jobs. “A tech professional who can consistently produce high-quality AI-generated images or videos with precise prompts will be in demand. Maintaining image and voice consistency requires specific inputs and mastering those prompts is a skill in itself. Such an artist will be highly sought after and well-paid,” points out Srinivas.
There is always the lurking fear that AI tools will take over our lives or, worse, they may morph into horrific HAL in 2001: The Space Odyssey. For now, AI continues to operate in the realm where it cannot replicate emotional depth or artistic vision or ‘think’ or ‘feel’ like a human, which is critical for telling a compelling story and engaging audiences. Yet, experts caution it may be better for filmmakers to view AI just as a ‘revolutionary tool’ and not let it become more important than the story they want to tell.
