Veteran David Dhawan has cleared the air about artificial intelligence (AI) use in his upcoming directorial, Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai. Starring Varun Dhawan, Mrunal Thakur and Pooja Hegde, the lighthearted romantic comedy is set to release on May 22. A teaser of the film, released last week, drew sharp responses for featuring a pair of AI-generated toddlers. The use of generative AI in mainstream feature films is becoming increasingly common, despite concerns about creativity and originality.
Speaking to news agency ANI, David Dhawan clarified that AI has been used in the teaser of Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai as an experiment. He confirmed that the final film will feature no AI-generated imagery.
"There is no AI in the film," Dhawan said, explaining, "The point of a teaser is to do something different. We tried out the technology and thought it was presentable. The subject and story of the film has nothing to do with it. It was just a teaser."
In the teaser, the AI-generated babies, parked on a coach, argue precociously about their parents, only to discover their fathers have the same name - Jass. This is followed by (presumably) live-action footage introducing the film's leading trio.
Earlier, a source close to the film told Bollywood Hungama that the AI babies were a 'gimmick' meant to generate curiosity about the film's premise. The makers wanted a quick, visually arresting way to set up the love triangle without revealing actual footage. AI babies were the pitch. It got greenlit for the teaser and stopped right there. There is no AI in the film," the source was quoted as saying.
Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai is described as a ‘Double trouble love story’, and is David Dhawan’s 46th directorial project. This is his fourth film featuring his son in the leading role, after films like Main Tera Hero, Judwaa 2 and Coolie No.1.