Coming to a cinema near you, a new Madhubala movie?
Uttam Kumar during a ride on the Kolkata Metro. The voice announced Kumar's 'comeback' to the big screen in Srijit Mukherji's latest film, Oti Uttam — a neat play of words on the actor's name, and the title which literally means 'Most Excellent'. But what was 'oti' interesting, was that the voice was that of Uttam Kumar.
Any Bengali, millennials included, worth his salt and her slice of lime will tell you that the great 'matinee idol' passed away in 1980. They will also tell you how the great man exuded charm and appeal, which is believed to be transcendental. I suspect that the 'Uttam Kumar' voice I heard in the Metro was AI-generated, rather than a manifestation of an elaborate planchette.
The main character of Mukherji's film currently playing in theatres is portrayed using old B&W footage featuring Uttam Kumar. The screenwriter-filmmaker painstakingly selected clips and dialogues from 56 of Uttam Kumar's films, and reportedly hired an AI company to 'clone' the actor's voice, even deliver dialogues in this movie that the actor may have never uttered.
Bringing deceased actors back using CGI and VFX is increasingly becoming popular in films, especially biopics. Take Carrie Fisher as Princess/General Leia in the 2019 Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker, where the actress, who passed away in 2016, is 'brought back to life via repurposed unreleased footage from the 2015 Star Wars film, The Force Awakens. Laurence Olivier, who had passed away more than a decade before the film, makes his appearance as a villain in
