Director Shekhar Kapur, who has helmed some of Bollywood's most seminal and iconic films from both ends of the spectrum, such as the superhero film Mr India and the grounded biopic Bandit Queen, has made the prediction that AI is going to overhaul the economy of Bollywood and filmmaking.
Kapur stated that AI will make filmmaking much more accessible and notably reduce the costs involved in doing so. "Because of AI technology, films that used to cost three to four crore rupees to make can now be made for Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000," Kapur said.
"Those filmmakers who used to wonder how I will ever make a 300-crore film? — they will now be able to make films for very little money," he added.
As per a statement to Financial Express from Rajiv Chilaka, founder of Green Gold Animation, which animates the popular children's television show Chotta Bheem, AI adoption has helped save 30-40% on content costs over the next two years.
Research from McKinsey & Company have also said that AI might help make pre-visualisation and storyboarding cheaper and faster, and do the same for post-production and marketing.
"Because of AI, the economy of filmmaking and Bollywood in India will change," Kapur said. "Young filmmakers will be able to make films sitting at home. Even a child will be able to make a film."
Kapur's Mr. India released in 1987 and featured Amrish Puri's zeitgeist defining turn as the megalomaniac supervillain Mogambo, making the film a definitive entry into the history books on Indian cinema. In 1994, he pivoted to arthouse cinema with the critically acclaimed biopic Bandit Queen, earning him the National Film Award and was selected the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes International film festival.
The director pegged AI as the next step in the evolution of filmmaking. "Whenever a new technology arrives, it brings change. When tractors first came to India, everyone said farmers would be finished — but today hundreds of farmers own tractors. When silent films were made in America and then films with sound started being made, people said silent movies would disappear," Kapur said.
Kapur lamented that AI may make his career as a filmmaker obsolete.
"My career is finished — now even kids will be able to make films,” he said.
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