Hollywood visionary director Christopher Nolan once said, “The rise of AI is a huge shift in our world, and it’s something that’s going to impact filmmaking in ways we can’t yet predict. But ultimately, storytelling is a deeply human endeavor, and that’s something AI can’t replace.” His words hold true, especially at this time when AI has almost a firm presence in every sector. What everyone has to do now is to adapt to it and move forward by widening the scope of storytelling in cinema. Now, the Malayalam film industry has also taken its first step in adapting to AI.
‘Gaganachari’s creative use
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
While the majority of Malayalam filmmakers are staying away from the territory of telling sci-fi, post-apocalyptic style stories due to budget constraints, the debutant director Arun Chandu has literally opened up the scope of AI in conveying such stories with a limited budget. ‘Gaganachari’ perfectly combines AI imagery and real visuals to create a post-apocalyptic Kerala, which is the base of the movie.
AI has indeed helped the filmmaker in widening the scope of his storytelling and also in putting forward a new concept for the Malayali audiences. In one way, ‘Gaganachari’ is surely the first successful attempt in using AI for creative storytelling.
“We had early access to AI technology’ – Arun Chandu
Talking to OTT Play, the ‘Gaganachari’ director said that the latest AI tools helped him achieve his objective of maximizing the viewing experience of the sci-fi film. He said, “We had some early access to AI technology, and till the release, we were constantly using AI tools to work on the CGI of the film.” He further said that till the very last minute, they had the possibility of updating their work using the latest AI tools.
How ‘Rekhachithram’s AI beats even big-budget spectacles like ‘Indian 2’ or even ‘GOAT’
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
With the arrival of ‘Rekhachithram’, the Malayalam film industry has yet again proved that it’s one step ahead of another industry, even with budget constraints. Comparing the AI works in Shankar’s ‘Indian 2’, and a simple 9 crore film like ‘Rekhachithram’, one can notice that the Asif Ali starrer has completely given justice to AI recreation, whereas the Shankar’s big budget movie was indeed an underwhelming tribute to the legends Nedumudi Venu and Vivek.
Depending completely on AI – good or bad?
We all know that AI is only in its starting phase. What went wrong with ‘GOAT’ and ‘Indian 2’ was surely due to the overconfidence the filmmakers had put in AI. We see the close-up shots of the AI-recreated faces in both films, and that’s where the audiences start to find flaws in it and start complaining.
Coming to ‘Rekhachithram, ’ the director Jofin never emphasizes close shots of Mammootty’s AI-generated face, and this gives authenticity to it, and the audiences won’t notice any mistakes in it. Even ‘Rekhachithram’s AI use could have gotten criticisms if the director had decided to completely trust in AI and had included close-up shots of Mammootty’s AI-generated face in the movie. Till the time when AI is full-fledged, it will be safe for the directors to use such tricks to cover up any flaws.
“Heartfelt gratitude to the team” – ‘Rekhachithram’ director Jofin T Chacko
While ‘Rekhachithram’ AI use received much appreciation from the audiences, the director Jofin recently shared a Facebook post, introducing the team who made it possible. The director said that the artist Twinkle Surya performed as Mammootty’s stand-in and he perfectly captured the actor’s body language and movements which were convincing for the audiences.
The director’s note read, “Since the day Rekhachithram released, I have received several questions as well as congratulatory messages about the de-aged version of Mammookka from the 80’s. Taking this opportunity to thank (and bring to your attention) the people who made it possible: 1. Twinkle Surya the artist who performed as Mammookka’s stand-in, capturing his body language and movements convincingly and with ease. 2. Arun, artist trainer, who specialises on body language and other traits from retro cinema. 3. Andrew & the Mindstein Team who helmed the AI de-aging aspects. Heartfelt gratitude to every single one of them!.”
AI’s Scope in Mollywood
With the success of films like ‘Gaganachari’ and ‘Rekhachithram’, the confidence of Malayalam filmmakers has soared, opening doors for many to tell stories that were previously constrained by budget or other limitations. With the advent of AI, legendary late actors can be brought back to the screen, and we could even see multi-starrers featuring iconic actors from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Sounds cool, right?
