Script, Prompt, Action

From sci-fi scripts to award-winning films, AI is enabling aspiring filmmakers to bypass budgets and reclaim creative freedom

- MOHD SHEHWAAZ KHAN

When Hridaye A Nagpal wanted to make a sci-fi film with spaceships and giant extraterrestrial flowers, he already had what he needed: a solid script, a clear vision, and a working knowledge of AI. A screenwriter and director of Prime Video's Rainbow Rishta, Nagpal found, for the first time in his career, that Bollywood's gatekeeping didn't matter to his creative pursuits. He made his film Hunger in a week using the AI tool InVideo with a team of 20. "I started making AI images with stories, and posted them on social media. Within weeks, I received a lot of traction. I had pitched these stories earlier, but that didn't receive any interest because they weren't regular Bollywood stories. Soon I started making AI films," he says.