Shekhar Kapur predicts AI-generated characters will be the future of cinema

07-May-2025

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Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur believes the film world is next in line for a major shift. 

Speaking at the WAVES 2025 summit in Mumbai, the director of Mr India and Elizabeth made a bold statement, stating he no longer needs iconic actors like Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan for his films. Instead, he says, he can now create entire characters — and even stars — using AI. 

Now, this idea may sound far-fetched to some, but Kapur is convinced that technology is evolving fast enough to change the way we think about acting, stardom, and storytelling.

Kapur’s main point wasn’t just about convenience or cost-saving. He stressed that AI could offer creative freedom to filmmakers, especially those without access to top talent or big budgets. 

"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,” he said during the event.

For him, AI is not just a gimmick or a trend — it’s a new phase of cinema. He described a future where fully digital, AI-generated characters could win over audiences, simply because they’re well-designed and emotionally compelling. 

“And very soon there will be a 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.”