If veteran actor Ranjeet had his way, he would have launched his son Jeeva in Bollywood with the screen adaptation of the 2014 book, Maharaja in Denims. We’re told by young author Khushwant Singh that his book had even caught the attention of actor Arjun Rampal, who wanted to acquire its rights. But someone else entirely was destined to be this film’s hero—an AI-generated leading man.   

At a time when technology is improving by leaps and bounds, the Chandigarh-based author has decided to make what he believes will be India’s first AI-generated feature film. The idea, Singh admits, didn’t come to him organically. After penning the novel, he was thrilled when Ranjeet, Rampal and producer Guneet Monga Kapoor approached him for the adaptation rights. It was his cousin Gurdeep Pall—a former corporate vice-president at Microsoft, playing a pivotal role in shaping the tech giant’s products, services, and AI technologies—who sowed the idea. Singh recalls, “In March last year, Gurdeep told me not to renew [adaptation contracts of] Maharaja in Denims with anyone. Seeing how the technology was developing, he said we would be able to make a full-AI movie within the next two years.” Thus, in 2023, was born their company Intelliflicks Studios, and with it, the ambition of bringing this film to life.