Lore and order

There’s a little comfort to be drawn from the fact that a new series ‘powered by AI’ is incredibly dull, while the superhero world of Lokah Chapter 1 is such a novel delight

- Deepanjana Pal

itting down to watch the first episode of the new series Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh felt like artistic betrayal. The idea of creative fields being dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) gives me the creeps, and this show proudly proclaims it is “powered by AI’.

In this retelling (helmed by director Lavanya and showrunner Smital Shintre), Brahma has been made to look like a version of George Clooney with a Santa Claus beard. Ganga cannot seem to blink (something AI characters still struggle with; they simply end up eyes downcast or staring fixedly ahead). Al also appears to have trouble with Hindi dialogue, if the odd lip-syncing is any indication. More distracting than out-of-sync lips are the teeth. Whenever a character speaks or smiles, their teeth disappear or appear unevenly blurred.