Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur participated in a detailed discussion about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in storytelling and filmmaking, and how it is bringing about a change in the way stories are presented and perceived. Speaking at WAVES 2025 on Thursday, Kapur stated that due to the advances of AI today, he does not need actors like Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan to create a star for his films.
During the session, Kapur said that soon cinema won't need the stars that it has today. "Actors are going to be just actors, because AI will create stars going ahead. AI will create more human-like stars. And I can create a star using AI and have my copyright. And very soon there will be slew of ideas of AI movies that will have a girl or a boy or a man or a woman that I've created using AI, and that will be my copyright," he stated.
He further explained, "In fact now it's happening more and more. A lot of the influencers that you see are not humans. AI has created them. So why can't we have films with actors, characters who have become stars because we created them on AI? I don't need Amitabh Bachchan. I'll create my own character. I don't need Shah Rukh Khan, I'll create my own character, my own star. And if I'm good enough, I'll create a character that the audiences will love. And then I'll have my own star."
Kapur also said that with the advent of AI and deepfake, every actor is busy copyrighting themselves. "You can't use Tom Cruise in an AI movie, because he is copyrighted. Can I copyright Amrish Puri? No, I can't. But can I copyright his Mr India character, Mogambo, exactly as it is? I can. Deepfake is a problem, yes, but should we boot AI out because it can create big waves? Actors need to protect themselves," he added.
During the session, Kapur also revealed that when he was scouting for scripts for Mr India 2, his cook was the one who came up with the "best script" which he wrote using ChatGPT, an AI tool. "Now, are we losing originality or is my cook gaining something from it? I am afraid I am going to lose my cook because he found ChatGPT," he quipped.
Kapur averred that while stories can be created using AI, the technology can never take over humans. Urging people to embrace and use AI with more confidence rather than fear, the Masoom director concluded, "There is no more democratic technology than AI. It is almost as powerful as the invention of the wheel. If we actually strive to give in to the idea of fear and failure and try to overcome them, then we will always be ahead of AI."
