u/chootnath_09

As we all know, generative AI is not only taking a huge toll on the environment, but it can also kill creativity in a lot of ways, especially when it is used to churn out low-effort slop. There is already a huge pushback against this in the West, and IMO, we should be having a similar conversation in the East as well.

That said, Namit’s latest Economic Times interview is less about these broader concerns and more about explaining Brahma AI, the technology they have developed and its use case in a project like Ramayana.

According to Namit, Brahma AI is the result of years of work and tens of millions of dollars in R&D. He claims it is fundamentally different from the trivial AI tools people are used to and is capable of producing cinematic-grade output.

The interesting part is how they are planning to use it for Ramayana. Namit says they have brought in voice actors to record the dialogues in multiple languages. In some cases, actors will retain their own voices in languages they are comfortable emoting in (e.g. Ranbir in English or Yash in Kannada). They have also recorded the actors' lip movements in these languages and will take this through the layer of this technology to generate natural lip syncing for those performances across different languages.

His argument is that this can go beyond the limitations of traditional dubbing and subtitles, which have historically been the main ways films have crossed language barriers.

Namit also believes this could actually expand the market rather than reduce opportunities. His view is that if major films and TV shows can be made accessible across languages without losing the original performance, more people will be able to watch them, and the industry could eventually treat this as the new norm.

Ultimately, he sees Brahma AI as a combination of technology and human talent. That is probably the most interesting part of his argument, especially when compared with the broader AI debate happening in Hollywood, where the concern is often that AI will simply replace artists rather than augment what they can do.

This is crazy. People are desperate for every second of a glimpse. Eating up leaked trailers, bts images, interviews, reports, digging up mentions from the past, comparing anywhere from Adipurush to Avatar.

Avoiding leaks has also been equally difficult for me.

Now, the official trailer is finally releasing in a few hours. We will still have to wait 3 more months for the movie. Don't know how that will happen.

So? Delay ho gaya? Dil toot gaya? What's next then?

1. SONY PICTURES will distribute internationally - officially confirmed by Namit.

It could be their condition to polish the visuals further before dropping the trailer. It helps the movie but leaves the fans hanging.

2. The post ends with "The youth of our country are our future, let's all do the best we can to protect our future." - unusual but makes sense.

This looks like it could be an expression of solidarity without being the operational reason for postponing the trailer. Although, no official statement has linked the postponement to the protests. It avoids the trailer being overshadowed and reduces the risk of appearing insensitive. Companies often make decisions based on multiple considerations, even if they publicly cite only one.

3. Trailer will arrive at a "later date" - their wording.

If Sony intends to market Ramayana as a global franchise on the scale Namit has described, attaching it to one of the year's biggest Hollywood releases would be one of the most effective ways to introduce it to mainstream audiences. Since they are now distributing both Ramayana and Spider-Man, next Friday can be the "later date." However, it doesn't help that this team has a style of announcing important news right on the Qayamat ka din.

I was wondering why Indian studios do not upload movie trailers on other platforms or their own websites.

Christopher Nolan's Odessey team has done a great job with this by having even different aspect ratios showcased on their website so audience can determine the type of experience they want to have. I remember when Matt Reeves uploaded a 4k The Batman trailer on Vimeo so fans can get a full grasp of the details.

Rama glimpse looks far superior when played in the theatres when compared to YouTube. It obviously doesn't help when people watch content made for the big screen on their phones and laptops but the team could make a little more effort and host a high bitrate version of the upcoming official trailer on DNEG's website.

This could look marginally better than YouTube uploads.

P.S.: For YouTube streaming, you can sometimes get a better bitrate when choosing the 4k quality option even if you don't have a 4k display.