Filmmaking and content creation in India have changed faster in the last five years than in the previous two decades. Short-form video, digital-first films and creator-led studios have reshaped the industry. At the same time, artificial intelligence tools have entered classrooms, editing suites and even film sets.
Actor and producer Rana Daggubati, Adobe’s Vice President and General Manager of Education Mala Sharma and artist-filmmaker Sidhant Gandhi came together for a Brut Table conversation to discuss how these changes are reshaping filmmaking and what they mean for the next generation of creators.
From Analog Posters to AI Pipelines
For Rana Daggubati, the evolution has been deeply personal. He recalled designing film posters in the late 1990s, when Indian cinema was transitioning from hand-crafted layouts and offset printing to early digital tools. What began as experimentation with early versions of Photoshop has now evolved into a world where AI assists in everything from shot breakdowns to rendering complex visual effects.
In filmmaking, he explained, AI has drastically transformed pre-production. Earlier, ideas existed as words on paper, open to multiple interpretations. Today, AI-generated visuals help align teams faster, setting camera angles, lenses and mood boards before a shoot even begins. In post-production, too, render-heavy visual effects that once took days can now be accelerated with AI-assisted layering.
Action sequences, he added, are also changing with the rise of digital body doubles. Where stunt performers once stepped in for physically risky scenes, filmmakers can now create fully scaled digital versions of actors to perform complex action safely. After large-scale action films pushed physical limits on set, the shift towards digital doubles has become a practical way to execute ambitious scenes without putting performers at risk.
And yet, Daggubati was clear: spectacle may be scalable, but storytelling isn’t fully automatable. Long-form stories, he argued, stem from lived experience, loss, culture, trauma; nuances AI cannot authentically replicate.
Speed, Access and the Power of Vision
For Too Sid, AI has flattened the technical learning curve. Where mastering 3D software once required years, today creators can move from imagination to execution far more quickly. The shift, he suggested, is from technical skill to clarity of vision. AI tools reward those who know what they want to say.
But both filmmakers emphasised a key distinction: faster does not automatically mean better. AI can accelerate workflows, but resonance still depends on human insight. As Rana put it, “AI is not going to buy a movie ticket. Humans will.”
Authenticity in an AI World
Mala Sharma highlighted Adobe’s broader mission, making creativity more accessible while safeguarding authenticity. She spoke about initiatives like content credentials, which function like a “nutritional label” for digital art, ensuring attribution travels with the creator’s work. In a world where generative AI can replicate styles, tools that protect authorship become critical.
Adobe at India AI Impact Summit 2026
At the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, Adobe also showcased Kathāvatār, a curated series of five “Made-in-India” AI short films inspired by Indian folklore at the WAVES Creators Corner.
The showcase demonstrated how AI-powered tools like Adobe Firefly, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere etc are reshaping storytelling for a new generation of creators.
The films were created by AI filmmakers and multimedia artists including Floating Tiger Films, Too Sid, Varun Gupta, Goji and Jishnu Chatterjee.
Each film reinterprets Indian folklore through a distinct visual style, from Himalayan guardian myths and Panchatantra tales to kite festivals and Kalighat-inspired animation, blending traditional storytelling with AI-driven filmmaking.
The films can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2QDoSyu_yU&list=PLIZ-cxME1FCy4leUF_XjR7Liq8bEDl_2R
Adobe's AI-first offer for the Next Generation in India
Perhaps the most consequential announcement came in the form of access. At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Adobe unveiled a strategic investment to expand AI-driven creativity across India’s accredited higher education institutions.
Students through accredited institutions will receive free access to AI-powered industry-standard tools including Adobe Firefly, Photoshop, and Acrobat. Alongside this access, Adobe is also introducing structured learning pathways, curriculum integration and certification opportunities designed to help students build practical creative skills.
The goal is to ensure that aspiring filmmakers, designers and creators across India are not limited by access to the latest technology. Instead, they can experiment, learn and build portfolios, whilst keeping up with the changing creative and technological landscape.
You can know more about this initiative here: https://www.adobe.com/in/creativecloud/buy/education/india-higher-education-offer.html
Adobe India has also partnered with NASSCOM FutureSkills Prime, a digital skilling initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, to offer free, industry-relevant courses and certificates to learners across India.
This initiative aims to help students build creative, productive, and AI-enabled skills that are increasingly in demand across fast-growing fields such as graphic design, video and VFX, animation, gaming, marketing, media, e-commerce, education, and technology and preparing them to thrive in today’s dynamic and ever-evolving job market.
In collaboration with Adobe
