Mirzapur director Karan Anshuman on AI: Some jobs in danger but it can help Bollywood challenge Hollywood’s big-budget dominance

Writer-director Karan Anshuman is currently gearing up for the release of his new OTT show Glory, and this time, he says the experience has been unlike anything before. Known for creating series like Inside Edge and Mirzapur, he describes Glory as a project he truly enjoyed making. The series moves away from the worlds of his earlier work, instead diving into a more intense, grounded story set in Haryana, with crime, family and ambition at its core.

Set against the backdrop of India’s boxing scene, Glory follows two brothers who were once promising boxers. As they try to navigate their past and present, they find themselves drawn into a disturbing crime that shakes their family. Amid the release on May 1 on Netflix, Karan Anshuman revealed that he is juggling multiple ideas at once.

The upcoming series, Glory, features Pulkit Samrat, Divyenndu, Suvinder Vicky, Sayani Gupta and Jannat Zubair in key roles.


In a recent interview with The Economic Times, he shared that he is actively writing and developing several projects, including both films and web series. His past few years have been packed with back-to-back work, but he is now taking some time to streamline his ideas and decide which direction to take next.

Karan Anshuman opens up about AI's future in Bollywood

What particularly excites him right now, however, is the rapid rise of artificial intelligence in filmmaking. Anshuman believes that AI has the potential to fundamentally change the way stories are told. He described the ongoing technological shift as something massive, saying it could reshape the industry in ways that were previously unimaginable.


One of the biggest advantages of AI, he noted, is its ability to break financial barriers. "I think we're no longer restricted by budgets, and we can really show a grand spectacle of sorts using the tools that we have, which were previously not possible because we didn't have Hollywood kind of budgets. It's not like we don't have talent or we don't have the ideas or we don't have the ability, but we just never had the money. And I think that is going to change now," he said.

"So I'm just watching this space very keenly because I feel there's something here, and I would like to be once again one of the first people to try and delve into that. I like to think of myself as someone who can sort of see the trends coming, and I would like to be an early mover in that."

Reacts to Varun Dhawan's movie teaser

During the conversation, when asked about the pros and cons of AI in filmmaking, especially in light of a recent teaser from Varun Dhawan’s film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, which received mixed reactions. The teaser features two AI-generated toddlers talking about how their mothers may be different, but their father, Jass, played by Varun Dhawan, is the same. The mothers are portrayed by Mrunal Thakur as Baani and Pooja Hegde as Preet.

Speaking about AI, Karan Anshuman said: "There are good things and bad. Like the bad things are, I think a lot of people's jobs are going to go. I really do think that it is going to happen. Whether we like it or not, it is going to happen, and this is a chain that you can't stop. You cannot stop technology. People whose jobs are doing things that can easily be replaced by AI, as you can see in many industries, not just film, are doing a very efficient, easy job at much less cost than it would be to hire a person who is more likely to make mistakes. Also, the efficiency of it, as I said, whether it is VFX or just having an assistant writer, these jobs I think are on the line a little bit. So I think we should be ready for that. That's a big negative."


Another major concern, he said, is the misuse of AI. He pointed out that careless or excessive use could lead to poor-quality output and ethical issues. He stressed that filmmakers need to be cautious, especially when using an actor’s likeness or voice. Consent, fairness and legal clarity will be crucial as the industry adapts to this technology. "You can’t just take an actor’s face and use it. We have to figure out a fair way to work around all of this," he said.

Despite these challenges, Karan remains optimistic about the role of AI as a creative tool. He believes it should be used to enhance storytelling rather than replace it. For him, the key lies in seamless integration; audiences should not be able to tell whether something was created using AI or filmed traditionally. If the use of technology becomes obvious or distracting, he suggests, it defeats the purpose.

"Because films can never be made completely by AI. I don't think that is possible. I was very scared for a bit because it was getting so much better in such a quick span of time. I thought it would manage to overtake us, but it has completely plateaued. It has come to a point, and it's not being able to go beyond that. You still have to be a domain expert, whether you're a cinematographer, a writer, or a director," he concluded.

While AI can assist with ideas, visuals or technical processes, it cannot replicate human imagination, emotion or nuance. Karan Anshuman believes that the depth that actors, writers and directors bring to a story is still far beyond what machines can achieve.