Shekhar Kapur on AI Revolution: ‘You Can Realistically Produce an ‘Avatar’ on Your Desktop for a Fraction of the Cost’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Shekhar Kapur believes filmmaking is entering a period in which the biggest barrier to making a large-scale movie may no longer be money. The filmmaker is a strong proponent of artificial intelligence (A.I.) and sees the technology as a tool that could fundamentally democratise cinema, particularly for young creators who previously had limited access to the resources required to realise ambitious ideas.

“We have arrived at a point technologically where you can realistically produce a film carrying the visual scale of a blockbuster like ‘Avatar’ for a fraction of the cost, right on your desktop,” Kapur said in an exclusive conversation with Variety India. “The entire financial landscape of how cinema is created, budgeted, and presented to a global audience has undergone a total transformation.”

Kapur’s argument is not simply that AI can make filmmaking cheaper. He believes the technology could alter who gets to make films in the first place. “Because of this, I am a massive proponent of AI,” he said. “I actively challenge the youth to step up and use these tools to create.

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The filmmaker believes that young people with access to sophisticated creative technologies will inevitably produce better filmmakers. “The younger generation will almost certainly make far better films than I ever did — that is a statistical guarantee,” he notes, adding. “Out of the millions of young minds out there who now have access to filmmaking tools, it is impossible that there aren’t thousands who possess a vision far superior to mine.”

For Shekhar Kapur, that possibility is the most exciting aspect of the technology. He sees AI as lowering the entry barrier between an idea and its execution, allowing creators to explore stories that may previously have been considered too expensive or technically difficult to make

The director has also stressed that AI does not replace the human qualities at the heart of filmmaking. In February, he argued that while AI can dramatically expand access to filmmaking tools, intuition and innovation remain fundamentally human qualities.

That distinction is central to his optimism. Notes Shekhar Kapur. “Consequently, the fundamental question for the modern youth is no longer, ‘How do I get a chance to make a movie and show it to the world?’ The tools are already in their pockets.”

It is a significant shift in the way Shekhar Kapur views the future of cinema. For decades, aspiring filmmakers have had to navigate an ecosystem shaped by access to capital, studios, equipment, crews and distribution. Kapur believes AI is steadily dismantling many of those barriers.