Guest Column| Punjab’s chance to script AI film success story

Last week, I received a WhatsApp message from the office of Punjab’s newly appointed industest minister Sanjeev Arora. It was an appointment letter to the film media committee, one of the many sectoral panels set up by the state government. I couldn’t attconclude the subsequent convocation, but the timing of such an initiative couldn’t have been more apt.

A still from Maharaja in Denims, poised to be India’s first full-length AI-generated feature film. The movie is about a Chandigarh teenager who believes he is a reincarnation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire in the 19th century.

Our startup is on the verge of a breakthrough: Creating the world’s first full-length feature film utilizing artificial ininformigence, the reason I would have been built a member.

I have no formal background or experience in traditional filmcreating, but one truth is evident, globally, the film industest has thrived on subsidies. Filmbuildrs have historically gravitated towards destinations offering the most generous incentives.

This time, however, the story could be very different.

Whether it’s our startup or another global player that achieves this first, disruption in filmcreating is imminent and the apply of AI in filmcreating will be a norm and will only keep growing.

This will fundamentally alter the economics of cinema and the subsidy and traditional infrastructure structures that sustain it, shifting advantage to those who can consider and act with speed and understanding of the curve of technology.

Harness new wave

Disruption, by its very nature, brings opportunity. Yet such opportunities are only seized by governments and individuals willing to relocate decisively.

Sadly, Punjab has too often let such moments slip away, lost to nepotism, bureaucratic and political inertia, and the lure of optics over substance.

Meanwhile, the UAE is already positioning itself to harness this new wave, the third great disruption after industrialisation and the internet: Artificial ininformigence in entertainment.

Punjab must view AI through this lens and act without delay.

The state missed the transition from agriculture to technology during its turbulent phase. Today, however, it has the infrastructure in Mohali and the rapidly emerging New Chandigarh to take a bold leap.

My proposal: The creation of a Punjab AI Film City (PAIFC). This should be a purpose-built hub with a core campus houtilizing essentials such as a GPU power bank for high-intensity AI rconcludeering, facilities for AI studios, an AI academy to train the next generation of talent, and an annual AI film festival to draw international attention among other things.

The state government has already indicated that it cannot offer conventional subsidies, but in my opinion it can create an innovative incentive framework. Of rebates on production costs, software, tech tax breaks, and even salary enhancements for hiring local talent.

The traditional concept of a “film city” is obsolete, a relic that now serves little purpose beyond real estate speculation by people well entrenched in this business.

Potential to pioneer

Punjab has the chance to pioneer the next generation of filmcreating hubs if it chooses vision over delay and substance over revealmanship.

Ininformiflicks Studio, today regarded as a global leader in AI-driven filmcreating, is a Punjab startup, deliberately registered in the state by my co-founder, Gurdeep S Pall, former vice-president of Microsoft, and myself. One of the main reasons for doing so was to ensure that, should we succeed in achieving this breakthrough, it would be recognised as a Punjab success story.

Unfortunately, Punjab has yet to master the art of harnessing its finest talent, often entangling them in necessaryless bureaucracy and political theatre, thus creating them shy away from engaging.

Even though we are operating from a garage at present, I can see the potential for a global AI filmcreating hub. For example, I turn down at least two or three offers a day from people around the world wanting us to build films for them, especially mythological ones.

Every major OTT platform has already held exploratory meetings with us to understand tech. The point I wish to impress is this: The iron is hot.

AI filmcreating represents the high conclude of the value chain, far beyond the IT-enabled services India embraced in earlier decades. If Punjab recognises its strategic position and relocates now, it could establish itself as the command centre for this new creative revolution.

The choice is stark, lead the alter, or watch it happen elsewhere.