AI Production Spreads Across India's Film Industry

The AI-driven production shift that Hollywood has been wary of has already become a reality in India's film industry.

• Eros International re-released a Tamil version of the 2013 film Raanjhanaa with an AI-altered ending last August. Star Dhanush and director Aanand L. Rai opposed it, but Eros asserted legal legitimacy, claiming they held the rights.
• On the ground in India, AI is being used for everything from previsualization, color correction, and restoration to lip-sync fixes. Dipankar Mukherjee of Studio Blo said about 80% of Indian films use AI at the previsualization stage.
• Rekhachithram recreated a young Mammootty using AI and altered the lip movements of the late John Paul to add new dialogue. The film earned over ₹57 crore, becoming the Malayalam industry's first super-hit of late 2025.
• Mann Pisahach was shot with two actors on an iPhone, with AI generating the costumes, art direction, and backgrounds, completing the film on a budget under ₹33,000 (about $360).
• Shakun Batra is experimenting with hybrid production using Midjourney, Google Veo, and ElevenLabs, and Vijay Subramaniam believes AI could lower the cost of large Indian film projects from $200M to $50M.

By contrast, Hollywood has grown more cautious around AI protection clauses since the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. The temperature difference is stark: the US leans toward concern over technological displacement, while India is pushing ahead first with experimentation and commercialization.