Directed by Vivek Anchalia, Naisha is India’s first AI generated movie. This Bollywood movie is scheduled for theatric release in May 2025. As the film genre suggests, there are no humans as star cast. Naisha Bose and Zain Kapoor, the lead characters, are created by artificial intelligence techniques of prompt engineering.
We have seen hundred of Insta reels and YouTube shorts, which are made by AI tech. But, this is a one step higher in the history of Indian Film Industry. This technology enabled creativity has created a huge online debate. We will discuss about various points step by step.
What is Naisha?
It’s not an easy question to answer – and that’s exactly why it matters.
Naisha is not just another Hindi film. On a larger scale, it is a bold experiment and potentially a turning point in the way we look at filmmaking. Whether it ends up being a one-off tech stunt or the first movie of a new genre, it is undeniably a stepping stone in the evolution of AI-driven cinema.
Naisha is the first AI-driven cinema of Bollywood. AI is integrated with storytelling for full fledged feature film format. Characters, costumes, cinematic angles, script, landscapes – all has been created using artificial intelligence tools. It gives a feeling that it exists in a space between live-action and digital art.
In terms of opinions, netizens are divided for the review of this AI film. For some, it is a new era in the Filmmaking while for some it is just a tech gimmick which will fade out soon. Honestly, both sides have a point.
Pros of Naisha
At the first glance, we will surely be skeptical on this topic. But, on a rational level of thinking, there are surely some huge advantages.
You don’t feel any logical limitations in the Naisha movie trailer. It has generated all scenes, characters, worlds, voices at the click of a button which are powered by prompt engineering. It takes the audience to a next level of movie experience. Even the voice is also AI generated.
Naisha and Zain takes the audiences through stunning locations of Kolkata, Paris, and Switzerland. It it has been a live action movie, the production cost for these must have been a bomb. It includes logistics, food, management of shooting equipment, medical of a full production crew. As per the screenplay, the stay can be more than a month. All these accumulates to a gigantic cost. But, AI has nullified all these production costs via using of proper AI movie tools.
And, to be honest, the movie has actually breathtaking cinematic shots and set designs. In a nutshell, this first AI generate movie delivers a visually rich experience that would normally take a full production crew months to achieve, with a gigantic cost.
With both the lead characters, Vivek don’t have to deal with ego issues, contract negotiations, scheduling conflicts, or on-set drama. There’s no need for retakes or reshoots in any AI film. Everything is designed and executed digitally.
Moreover, traditional movies take years to make. Being a fully AI generated movie, it has not been in case of Naisha. On a larger scale, this could revolutionize Bollywood. It will allow Bollywood to make more films with less time and effort.
Looks good so far. But, as every coin has a flip side, let’s check that also.
Cons of Naisha
Let’s check out limitations of AI in filmmaking.
One of the biggest issues? Both the characters of this AI generate movie – Naisha Bose and Zain Kapoor – don’t feel real. Their skin looks plastic. The skin texture changes from scene to scene. It looks like a rendering experiment of various styles. Lighting is not consistent. No matter how detailed the animation is, human emotions are complex, and AI still struggles to replicate them convincingly. Body language is also unnatural. It end up feeling hollow.
Eye contact is one of the most fundamental aspects of human communication. Without it, the characters might feel lifeless. There is no eye movements between characters. How will it evoke emotions? Facial expressions and subtle emotions are also looks off. Lip movements are also unnatural. All of these continuously gives the feeling of disconnect while watching this India’s first fully AI generated movie.
It looks good for cinematic angles and beautiful wallpapers of mobile and pc. There are so many visuals in Naisha trailer which are very interesting and focus on grand cinematography – long shot of sea shore and sunset as a backdrop with characters and bike, low angle shot of Zain on singing stage, lead female character on bike with backdrop of snow mountains. It gives an immersive feeling.
But, what about storytelling in AI movie? This is the core of any movie. If it is not in place, you will soon get detached from the movie watching. In majority of scenes, background characters and scenery has turned into bokeh effect. Such effect looks good in a still image, not in a full fledged movie. The background elements mostly looks smudgy and unnaturally blurry.
If I don’t see aggression, happy, sad feelings, how can I watch the entire movie? Even the voice acting fails to engage you. It lacks the personality and charisma of characters. All thanks to the lack of tone variation and natural flow of voice.
Overall, it lacks emotional depth and appeal. It looks like a beautiful slide show, but without a soul. All these cinematic angles and landscapes cannot replace human emotions. You cannot see a robotic movie. All beautiful visual spectacle takes a toss, because it fails to engage the audience emotionally.
A funny comparison – ‘Naisha’ is to AI generated movies what ‘The Polar Express’ was to 3D movies. (Not all the readers will be able to understand this. Only 3D Animation and VFX artists will.)
Will there be ‘storytelling’?
AI tools write scripts by analyzing thousands of existing movies and predicting what works. The result? Stories that feel formulaic and safe, rather than fresh and unpredictable. The script of AI movie is built by analyzing patterns. It will identify what has worked well in the past and might replicate it. Even the twist might not feel like a twist.
That is because a storytelling is not just a formula.
Great stories are unpredictable, sometimes messy, and often don’t follow any rules. They are crafted out of an unique cultural context or a sudden flash of inspiration that no machine can replicate. Think about the goosebumps you get from a monologue, or the plot twist you never imagine, or the way a film quietly reflects your own unspoken fears. That magic? True creativity comes from human instinct, improvisation, and lived experience – things AI simply doesn’t have.
From Naisha trailer, you can easily guess the screenplay – meeting of two strangers, falling in love, separation, reunion. The question is that how can AI create a compelling story that can show the emotions of both of them in a subtle way. The beauty lies in unspoken words and metaphors, which human writers can create. There are hundreds of love stories or rom coms – Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Hum Tum, Jab We Met, Dil chahta Hain and many more. All these are unique in their own ways, as they all have a personal feelings and emotions of a human script writer.
AI film might struggle with such subtleness and nuance. It can mimic tone and structure, but generating that human emotion is still a long journey.
Which AI softwares / tools are used to create Naisha movie?
This is the major question which is asked by all 2D / 3D Animation, VFX, Gaming and Graphic design artists.
Apart from being a Director, Vivek is also a screenwriter and a lyricist. After his movie Tikdam (2024), he started his R&D on AI tools to make a music video. It turned up in Naisha movie, with his 1500+ hours of work. The main challenge was to get consistency, which he achieve with constant efforts.
Following AI softwares are used to create Naisha.
- For digital characters and landscapes: Runway, Kling, Pica Labs
- For voice: ElevenLabs
For video creation, AI softwares are majorly used. Using AI tools, he has created six major movie characters within 8 months. Various tools are used to create the final output. Some gave camera control and some gave characters, via prompting. It’s a huge process to get it correct. There has been a long struggle to use proper prompts, with multiple mix and match of words.
Vivek admitted that all such AI tools are still in a progressing mode, hence it took a long time to get consistency. But, in coming years, AI companies will solve this issue as this technology gets better and better.
ElevenLabs has taken care of voice processing, but Vivek Anchalia himself gave the voice over of Zain Kapoor. He combined two or more voices in the software to create an unique voice for each character. Moreover, to compose Naisha movie songs, he hired Daniel B George (Andhadhun, Merry Christmas, Bawaal), Protijyoti Ghosh and Ujjwal Kashyap.
Future of AI generated movies
We know what is live action movie.
We know what is 3D / CGI / VFX movie.
But, we don’t yet know what AI generated movie is. There is no benchmark to compare it. We are seeing a birth of a new movie genre – AI films.
This AI Bollywood movie raises the question – Will a film made entirely by AI still feel a movie, or will it lack the human touch that makes storytelling special?
No doubt, deepfake technology is evolving day by day. In near future, it can be on the level of creating convincingly human expressions. This could be refined for AI generated movie and storytelling. It can solve the issue of emotionally flat AI movies. Dialogue heavy scenes might be possible by that time.
Whatever may happen in future regarding AI movie, but one thing is for sure. The world of cinema is changing, and Naisha is at the forefront of that change. We need to see how it turns up for India’s first fully AI generated film – a cinematic masterpiece or emotionless experiment?
It will also give rise to a fire debate whether they serve as tools for creators or replace human creativity altogether. As AI generated films evolve, the real question is not whether such tools can tell stories. It’s whether they can tell stories that make us feel something real.