‘Maharaja in Denims’ Leads India’s AI Movie Experiment

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Mumbai: While many filmmakers worldwide worry about the threat posed by artificial intelligence, India is embracing the technology in a race to produce the country’s first successful AI-generated Bollywood feature.

Among the leading contenders is Maharaja in Denims, based on a 2014 novel by Khushwant Singh and scheduled for theatrical release this summer.

“There is no actor fee, no fuss over delays, and no need for expensive sets. It is sheer creativity of mind and machine,” Singh said.

Singh co-founded Intelliflicks Studios with Gurdeep Singh Pall to bring the project to life.

India’s film industry, which produces more than 2,000 movies annually, has rapidly adopted AI tools—unlike Hollywood, where the technology has triggered strikes and tighter union rules.

Other Indian productions such as Chiranjeevi Hanuman: The Eternal, Love You, and Naisha have also been promoted as AI-powered films.

However, Singh said rapid advances in AI image generation repeatedly delayed the final version of Maharaja in Denims, as creators kept upgrading visuals with newer tools.

The story follows a privileged teenager affected by the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Punjab who believes he is the reincarnation of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

According to Singh, AI reduced production costs to roughly one-tenth of what a traditional film would require.

Still, realism proved difficult. He said AI systems were poorly trained to generate Indian faces and Sikh historical figures, making the process far more challenging than creating Western characters.

To retain a human touch, the film’s soundtrack will feature traditional music, including a title song by Sukhwinder Singh.

Despite technical hurdles, Singh believes AI will democratise filmmaking by lowering barriers to entry.

“The way technology is progressing, an 18-year-old in a village could soon challenge the big studios,” he said.