Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma launched on Wednesday a hard‑hitting critique of artificial intelligence filmmaking tool Seedance 2.0, describing it as both a threat and a force set to reshape the future of cinema.
In his post on social media platform X, Varma dramatically labelled Seedance 2.0 as the 'murderer of the film industry', arguing that the AI tool has the power to dismantle the entrenched, elite‑driven hierarchy of filmmaking.
Citing director SS Rajamouli as an example, he highlighted how only a select few command massive budgets and industry backing due to established track records, a privilege inaccessible to thousands of equally talented creators hidden in small towns, colleges, and regular jobs.
"Leaving aside its copyright infringements etc which is another matter, here's my take on Seedance 2.0. SS Rajamouli is the no. 1 director because he makes the most expensive films and the most successful... People fund him a 1000 crores or more because of his track record and all that again is due to his unsurpassed creative imagination.. But now In a country of some 120 crore people, who knows how many more Rajamoulis or even better than him are there in small towns, villages, engineering colleges, and government jobs right now?," posted Varma.
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According to Varma, Seedance 2.0 has "kicked the gate down and set it on fire", democratising the process by enabling anyone with imagination to generate cinematic multi‑shot sequences, complete with sound design and high‑end visuals that look as though they cost hundreds of crores to produce.
He wrote, "Now Seedance 2.0 just kicked that gate down and set it on fire. This can take just their descriptive prompts and create a cinematic, multi shot, sound designed, devastatingly impactful scenes that look like they cost 100s of crores and took months or years to make. Suddenly, a creative guy in Gorakhpur or Coimbatore or Satara or wherever, doing a mundane job to feed his family , who can't even afford to come to Mumbai can just write a scene and the likes of Seedance makes it for him and that is true democracy in motion."
SEEDANCE 2.0 , the MURDERER of FILM INDUSTRY
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) February 25, 2026
Leaving aside its copyright infringements etc which is another matter , here's my take on Seedance 2.0
@ssrajsmouli is the no. 1 director because he makes the most expensive films and the most successful ..People fund him a 1000…
Varma further warned that the technology could eliminate vast sections of the industry's workforce like the actors, technicians, production crews, VFX teams, and on‑set staff by allowing a single creator to produce film‑quality outputs through text prompts alone. "No more star issues. No more 300 people waiting for one shot. Just one person, one prompt, one mind," he wrote, predicting an inevitable collapse of the current filmmaking ecosystem.
He concluded with a provocative question: Is Seedance 2.0 the death of cinema — or its ultimate democratisation?
ALSO READ: ByteDance Seedance 3.0 Reportedly In Development, May Usher In AI-Powered 'Feature Film Era'
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