AI is Coming for Indian Cinema
Some think artificial intelligence will democratize storytelling. Others think it’ll destroy what has long made films special.
When filmmaker Aanand L. Rai made Raanjhanaa in 2013, he never predicted it would become the center of a modern-day Black Mirror episode. The love story is set against Varanasi’s ancient ghats, where faith, caste, and desire tangle like prayer threads. In the film, Kundan (Dhanush) spends years chasing Zoya (Sonam Kapoor), his childhood love, across cities until his devotion curdles into tragedy. In the film’s climax, Kundan dies, his final breath an act of penance. Yet, in August, production company Eros International rereleased Ambikapathy, the Tamil-dubbed version, in theaters with an AI-altered “happy” ending. Eros deemed it “a respectful reinterpretation.” Rai called it “a reckless takeover that strips the work of its intent, its context, and its soul.”
This is more than a single case of overreach. AI isn’t nibbling at the edges of Indian cinema anymore — it’s already here. Mumbai just hosted an AI Film Festival, International Film Festival of India (IFFI) added an AI-driven filmmaking competition, episodes of AI-powered Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh are now streaming, and AI-powered film Chiranjeevi Hanuman is scheduled for a 2026 release. Contrast this with Hollywood, which ground to a halt in 2023 as workers went on strike to regulate AI in the industry. We asked the people who make Indian cinema: is the industry heading toward the same collision course — or rewriting the script altogether?