Aamir Khan on AI: Filmmakers decide if tech helps or harms

The question of AI in filmmaking has been swirling around Indian cinema, and Aamir Khan has now given it a clear framing: the technology doesn’t choose the story, the makers do. His comments came as social media was still debating a morphed video of Janhvi Kapoor from the ‘Devara’ track ‘Chuttamalle’.

Technology has no life of its own

Speaking to the media, Aamir dismissed the idea that AI is inherently good or bad for films. New technology, he noted, is absorbed quickly by the industry; what differs is the skill behind it. Crews that use it thoughtfully get a warm response, while poor execution usually shows up on screen and in the audience’s reaction.

He put it plainly: technology is just technology, with no life in it. People give it shape.

From impossible shots to everyday VFX

Aamir equated AI with the visual effects tools Bollywood has been using for years. There was a time, he said, when a filmmaker simply could not execute what was in their head because the facilities were not advanced enough. That constraint has largely gone.

“Today, you can show whatever you can imagine,” he said. “It is a tool which you should know how to use well.”

His point is less about novelty and more about craft: AI collapses the distance between imagination and final frame, but it does not write the scene, cast the actor or decide the emotion.

The Janhvi Kapoor contrast

That distinction matters because AI’s darker use is playing out right now. A manipulated clip of Janhvi Kapoor, allegedly using AI to alter her appearance in the ‘Chuttamalle’ song from ‘Devara’, made the rounds online. Jr NTR, her co-star in the film, responded forcefully, naming the creators as “disgusting, sick and shameless” and warning of legal action against anyone making or spreading the video.

The two stories, side by side, capture Bollywood’s AI moment: one side is wanting to visualise the impossible; the other is dealing with misuse that violates a performer’s image and dignity.

What that means for fans and the industry

For viewers, the practical shield is old-fashioned media literacy: check the source before sharing a sensational clip. For producers and platforms, the bigger task is building consent and likeness-rights rules before the next synthetic video goes viral.

• Treat AI as a production tool, not an automatic quality boost.
• Put consent and watermarking at the centre of AI use with actors.
• Report or pause before amplifying clips that look too extreme to be true.

Next up for Aamir

On the work front, Aamir is moving to a role rooted in history. He will star in Ashutosh Gowariker’s ‘Lalkaara’ as Lala Amarnath, independent India’s first cricket captain.

Source: The Times of India