There’s much to feel queasy about when it comes to the use of AI in the arts. Bollywood too, has seen a flurry of complaints, although the criticism has felt somewhat muted.
Anil Kapoor, the Bollywood star, recently went to court to protect his likeness from AI-powered deep fakes. A 2013 romantic tragedy Raanjhanaa, was re-released in 2025 with the tragic ending re-engineered into a happy one, through the use of AI; it faced a volley of criticism from viewers who felt the soul of the film had been sliced away by the remake. India’s Screenwriters Association are upset about copyrighted work being used for training AI without the whisper of consent or compensation. And voice actors are sounding alarm bells about their possible (imminent) replacement by a software.
In fact, they aren’t the only ones with precariously-positioned jobs. Special effects experts could slowly get muscled out of the industry. Extras, already shouldering the burden of being nameless crowd fillers, are equally at risk. Walk on roles, of the kind that actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui took on as a junior artiste before being catapulted to fame, might vanish entirely. And a sea of behind the scenes experts, from make-up artists to backup singers to art directors might be rendered useless. In fact, why would you even need an actor anymore if you could build an entire movie using just his or her likeness?
Notwithstanding this sea of worries, Bollywood has apparently taken AI to heart. The Tamil film Weapon, starring an older actor Sathyaraj, is slated to have a two and a half minute sequence of purely AI – generated action, in which the star has been digitally de-aged. Border 2 has used the technology to amplify crowd scenes that would have otherwise required a sea of people. Similar suspicions have dogged that behemoth of an epic film, Ramayana, in a scene in which Ravan is seen addressing a crowd of what seems like millions. Using AI to dub lines in different languages is catching on too. And Reuters reports that plans are afoot to generate eight mythological films using generative AI.
The scale and speed of adoption has been staggering. Unencumbered by strong workers’ unions unlike in the West, and unhindered by a legal system that is still struggling to keep pace with this technology, film studios are merrily embracing it. Their top two reasons are obvious; a far speedier result, coupled with gutter-low costs are naturally attractive propositions for producers and studios unwilling to dip into deep pockets. But there are less obvious advantages too – a stunt that might otherwise have endangered lives can now be digitally created (bringing down insurance costs in the process).
There is little doubt that if we disregard environmental, privacy, consent and compensatory concerns, AI offers much to titillate the imagination. Its infinite possibilities could eclipse anything a human might be able to achieve.
What then, happens to an entire industry built on the backs of tremendous manpower? What of jobs? And what of that dying artefact of human emotion – creativity? The thought alone is enough to curdle it.
And there is an even bigger question to ponder. For even a tiny taste of Bollywood, thousands slog through years of auditions and trials. Part of the glitz and glamor of Mumbai draws from its film industry, magnetizing millions to come to the city from the most far-flung corners of the country. Every day, dozens of fans hang about outside Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan’s house hoping for a wee glimpse of the stars. But soon enough, AI could render them obsolete. After all, Hollywood has already worked on an AI-generated actor, Tilly Norwood. Where would Mumbai and its stars be then?
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