When code calls the shots in Indian cinema
BENGALURU
India's vast and restless film industry is undergoing a technological jolt, as artificial intelligence begins to redraw the economics and aesthetics of movie-making, pushing studios towards speed and scale while unsettling long-held ideas about craft and authenticity.
In Bengaluru, the Collective Artists Network is building what looks less like a film set and more like a software lab. Inside its Galleri5 studio, mythological epics are assembled through algorithms, with scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata rendered by AI systems rather than crews of technicians.
Executives say production costs for such genres have dropped to a fifth, while timelines have shrunk to a quarter.
The shift comes as India, already the world's most prolific film producer, grapples with uneven box office returns and changing audience habits. Cinema admissions fell sharply after the pandemic, even as revenues hit record highs driven by expensive tickets and a handful of blockbuster releases.
Studios are now betting that AI can stabilise margins and unlock new revenue streams.
Unlike Hollywood, where unions tightly regulate the use of AI, Indian filmmakers are moving with fewer constraints. Production houses are experimenting with fully AI-generated films, multilingual dubbing, and even reworking older titles to extend their commercial life.
Analysts at EY estimate the technology could raise industry revenues by 10% while trimming costs by 15% in the medium term.
The commercial logic is already visible. Eros Media World re-released the 2013 film Raanjhanaa with an AI-altered ending, replacing tragedy with a happier conclusion. The move sparked outrage from its lead actor Dhanush, who said the change stripped the film of its soul.
Yet audiences still turned up, underlining the uneasy balance between artistic integrity and market demand.
Nowhere is AI's appeal clearer than in dubbing. With 22 official languages and hundreds of dialects, India's fragmented market has long depended on voice adaptation. Start-ups such as NeuralGarage are using AI to synchronise lip movements with translated dialogue, producing near-seamless multilingual versions within minutes - a technical leap that could turn regional hits into national blockbusters.
Global technology firms are also stepping in. Google, Microsoft and Nvidia are partnering with Indian studios, betting that the country could emerge as the centre of AI-driven storytelling.
Yet the audience response remains mixed. AI-generated adaptations of the Mahabharata have drawn millions of views but poor ratings, with critics citing unnatural visuals and weak emotional depth.
For filmmakers, the dilemma is stark: efficiency is improving, but acceptance is not guaranteed.
As one director put it bluntly, Indian cinema has always been a business first. AI may simply be its most disruptive tool yet - accelerating output, widening reach, and forcing a reckoning over what, if anything, remains uniquely human in storytelling.