Saturday Feeling: How AI is rewriting the script in Indian cinema

In a surprisingly short period of time, Artificial Intelligence has ripped into every aspect of life, business, arts, leisure, society, entertainment. Every so often, Lounge reports on the chatbots that are replacing partners, friends, family and workmates. We’ve written about the helpful AI companions who end up causing harmful dependencies as people unburden themselves to it. We’ve tried to understand the impact AI will have on cognition and everyday creativity when we outsource every little aspect of thinking and organising to it. In the world of film, which is what we report on this week, Artificial Intelligence has made deep inroads without the audience really noticing. AI has reshaped the filmmaking process, from screenwriting and casting to shooting and post-production. Technology improves filmmaking, no doubt, but, as our report shows, it seems like the Indian film industry has cheerfully signed up for AI to cut costs without really thinking through the longer term implications for the craft. It is true that the technology itself is improving at a dizzying pace with little oversight or regulation, and we all have to, in real time, grapple with the ethical and social responsibilities of integrating it into our lives. Is the line in the sand so faint that the film industry is forgetting it’s even there? Streamlining production timelines or tracking expenses might definitely be easier with AI, but using AI to change the end of a film without the director’s consent or using it to make an aged superstar look younger? We don’t have the answers, but these are the kinds of questions we need to be asking ourselves as we learn to live with AI.

And since the mood of the week gone by has been the internet’s obsession with 2016 (I’d have to say Priyanka Chopra Jonas has probably won this trend), we suggest shows and styles to take you back in time.

A guide to Jaipur Art Week

The work of more than 100 artists will be on show across Jaipur from 27 January to 3 February. The Jaipur Art Week: Edition 5.0 has turned the spotlight on early and mid-career artists and encourages experimentation, writes Meera Menezes. The works tackle issues of gender, ecology, labour, identity, personal healing, and more even as they blend craft with technology.

What musicians wear on stage

As concert culture goes mainstream, style has become a key element of a musician’s art and identity, writes Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran. If the 1990s and 2000s espoused a grungy aesthetic—“black tee and jeans” essentially—because rock music ruled the scene, today, the popularity of rap and hip-hop has made artists fashion icons as well. This tango between music and fashion is only set to gain momentum.

Fighting for ethical consumerism

In his new book, Karuna: The Power of Compassion, Kailash Satyarthi looks back at an incident from December 1989 when he and his team rescued a group of children from a carpet factory in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh. It was a deeply revelatory moment for the Nobel laureate, when he realised the link between child slavery and carpet making. “I believed these consumers held the key to change. If they made a strong demand for ethical products, they could transform the entire industry and millions of children could be saved,” writes Satyarthi in an extract from the book.

The intentional learner’s cheat sheet

Given the profusion of edtech platforms and online courses, having to make up one’s mind on what, how and when to learn can lead to decision paralysis. You aren’t alone, or even in the minority, if you never logged into a paid online course after doing the first couple of modules. Although exact figures are hard to come by, anecdotally, only 10-20% learners complete online courses globally. This is compounded by generic corporate training that ignores individual goals, leaving employees overwhelmed by options that fail to solve immediate workplace challenges. If you are a professional keen to pick a new skill this year, Somak Ghoshal offers a cheat sheet of five factors to evaluate before you pick one.

The quirky gadgets to add to your wishlist

The entire tech industry has been watching the products and technologies coming out of CES. There were thousands of products at CES 2026—some prototypes, some futuristic devices, some already on sale. The event blended innovation with eccentricity, featuring everything from robotic exoskeletons and physical AI assistants to futuristic beauty tech. Sahil Bhalla curates a selection from among the non-smartphone, non-laptop products—a reminder that the show remains a playground for bold, sometimes bizarre experimentation.