Ramayana Movie and Brahma AI The Revolutionary Role of Artificial Intelligence in India's Biggest Epic
The upcoming Ramayana film is bringing India's greatest epic to life with cutting-edge filmmaking technology. But beyond its spectacular visuals, there is growing curiosity about the role of Artificial Intelligence and Brahma AI in its production. Explore how AI could transform filmmaking, visual effects, character creation, and storytelling while examining what we know about this technological revolution in Indian cinema.
Two-part Ramayana film directed by Nitesh Tiwari (starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, Yash, etc.) is being considered as one of India’s most ambitious and costly productions (budget – almost ₹4000 crore). Its global premiere in Los Angeles (Oct 2026) stirred up speculations about the role of AI technology in the process of production. People who watched its English dubbing noted the fact that it is significantly shorter than the Hindi version, and rumors appeared that artificial intelligence known as Brahma AI was used for dubbing.
However, as director Tiwari and Namit Malhotra (producer, Prime Focus/DNEG) explain, AI was only used to synchronize lip movements of actors with dubbed sounds, but no actors or voice artists were replaced by artificial intelligence. Human voices were performed by professional dubbers, and AI was just a “tool in the toolbox” that changes images. This blog decodes the actual information provided by the filmmakers, introduces the technology of Brahma AI, its place in the process of film production, discusses the creative and ethical issues of using AI in film production, and provides a fact-checking of main claims.
AI in Ramayana – What’s True, What’s Rumour
The period around the world premiere saw differences between dubbed versions and the use of AI highlighted in international social media and reviews of international critics. According to The Hollywood Reporter (India) and Times of India, some critics suggested that "generative AI has been used in the dubbing process". As a result, a response came straight from the filmmakers. During the premiere, Tiwari assured viewers multiple times that "No AI has been used in dubbing – all the voices are dubbed by real artists". That is, the English (as well as other language) version is recorded with real human actors pronouncing their lines; AI is used just to adjust mouth-sync.
According to the founder of Prime Focus/DNEG and co-producer of Ramayana, Namit Malhotra, the process included voice actors recording all dialogue, a human animator or "driver" who created the initial lip-sync for a new language, and the custom AI system which adjusted face movements making the actor seem like he or she is speaking the new language. Simply put, the filmmakers recorded Ramayana in Hindi, and then used the Brahma AI system named "VAANI" to turn Hindi mouth-sync into convincing English one.
“AI has only been used to get the lip movement right”, Tiwari told reporters. The cast affirmed that the emotion and voice come from real performers. Namit Malhotra noted: “We’ve brought in voice actors who’ve actually performed it… And it’s led by humans. There’s no AI, whatsoever,” emphasizing that Brahma’s tech only stitches the lip motion to the actor’s face.
This is different from the apprehensions raised by some people regarding AI voice cloning. This is because major Hollywood guilds (SAG-AFTRA) actually went on strike due to AI voice cloning, demanding their consent for use of compensation for the same. However, in Ramayana, there was no question of AI voice cloning because the dialogues were dubbed by actual human dubbing artists.
What Is “Brahma AI”?
"Brahma AI" has a biblical ring for many readers, but it isn't some mystical machine; it is actually an existing tech startup and platform created inside Prime Focus/DNEG. Prime Focus (the visual effects company established by Namit Malhotra) has always been developing AI technologies internally. In 2024, Prime Focus has formed a spin-off called Brahma AI (created by Prabhu Narasimhan) that is an "AI-native operating system" for media content.
Nowadays, Brahma AI is a venture-backed Indian AI startup (by Prime Focus/DNEG and other investors), having an estimated valuation of around $2 billion. According to its website, it is an "AI-Native Content Operating System that understands, organizes and creates new content." Brahma AI does not specialize in dubbing only; it provides different modules (digital humans, environment creation, voice dubbing, etc.). Actually, VAANI (cited by the filmmakers) is the part of Brahma related to voice/lip-sync technology. The motto of Brahma is "Human Creativity Leads, AI Amplifies Execution at Scale."
To provide some background, Brahma AI was developed by combining decades of experience in VFX research and development of Prime Focus (now DNEG). Its founders integrated the technology from the subsidiary Metaphysic, Prime Focus Technologies, and other companies into one platform. Brahma AI has already attracted customers such as Warner Bros, the NBA, Google, and others. In September 2026, Brahma AI received an investment round of $150 million to "accelerate global expansion." Therefore, Brahma AI is indeed an Indian tech company and platform, not a mere "wizard."
According to The Indian Express, Brahma's VAANI tool has been used for multilingual dubbing in Ramayana: “Brahma AI…became a unicorn earlier this year… The component that's been primarily used in Ramayana's dubbing process is called VAANI. Used for voice and lip-sync multilingual localisation, VAANI has been used to convert the Hindi lip-sync of the characters in the native version into English”. Simply put, Brahma/VAANI recognizes and corrects actors' lip-sync so that it is consistent with English voiceover.
What is significant to remember in connection with this work is what Brahma AI is not doing in this process. They are not producing any voice-overs or translations. It is also not writing the script or even voicing the dialogues. The dialogues in English are written and voiced by humans.
”Ramayana Part 1 used Brahma AI, an AI-powered technology, for its English-language version…According to the makers, Brahma AI has been used to help localize the film for audiences across languages. Majorly used for voice and lip-syncing, VAANI has been used to convert the original film into English.”.
Visual Effects Pipeline – Traditional Meets Innovation
Secondly, Ramayana has a huge conventional VFX work. It has become evident from the 2024 announcement, along with several interviews, that VFX company DNEG (Double Negative) and its subsidiary ReDefine from Prime Focus will be doing the VFX for the movie. Actually, DNEG’s CEO worldwide Namit Malhotra is himself the producer of the film. Both DNEG (eight-time Academy award winner) and ReDefine have thousands of artists in India.
According to the NDTV VFX article, it mentions the making of Ramayana’s “digital environments and characters,” including huge CGI kingdoms, digital landscapes, and digital creatures like vanaras, rakshasas, and even de-aged characters. These are all led by production designers Ravi Bansal and Ramsey Avery, stunt coordinators Terry Notary, among others. The entire visual experience is being managed by Dan Glass who is a veteran VFX supervisor.
The scale of this project is enormous because the movie was filmed using IMAX technology (with an aspect ratio of 1.90:1 and high resolution), which implies that each visual effect (whether crowds, atmospheric effects, or creature designs) should be created using this technology and not be up-scaled. As written in TechReview, “the first Indian movie filmed in IMAX… creates actual limitations on the entire process chain: certified camera packages… a VFX pipeline that needs to render and composite everything at IMAX quality rather than up-scale”.
This kind of production scale is unique for Indian cinema. To create digital doubles, the crew needed to use a rig of 86 cameras (the same technology used for filming Nolan's Interstellar). For instance, one actress remembered being filmed from 86 angles during her costume body scanning.
It is highly likely that the pipeline currently in use at DNEG involves a combination of old-fashioned artistry along with modern-day technology. Although some film production companies are known to make use of AI-assisted technology like denoising and background generation, Ramayana has not yet employed generative AI technology for its visuals. The critique has been based on the quality of CG work in trailers.
Digital vs AI-driven CGI: In Ramayana, the mythology and spectacle are realized through conventional CGI and animation by large VFX teams. This involves modeling, texturing, animation, lighting and compositing by human artists. By contrast, the “AI” in the news refers only to the lip-sync tool. So while AI-assisted dubbing is new, the film’s on-screen visuals are not churned out by generative AI shortcuts – they’re painstaking VFX.
AI vs Tradition – Creative and Ethical Questions
There are other larger implications as well when it comes to using AI for the purpose of dubbing. Usually, dubbing (in India in particular, where there are numerous languages) involved actors dubbing lines which do not match up with their mouth movements, and this was always awkward. However, according to Brahma’s VAANI, the technology will make things much more realistic so viewers “feel it’s the actor who’s speaking with authenticity”. In case it works out successfully, there is no doubt that it will be used universally, as TechReview notes: “for a country with this many theatrical language markets, [AI localisation] is arguably a bigger story than the creature work… if [Ramayana] solves that convincingly, every Indian studio will adopt it within two years”.
However, there are other issues of labor and credit which arise from it. Dubbing is a professional task and one may wonder whether artists will feel threatened by the new technology. Producers say that all of the acting and emotions are still produced by humans, but others might fear some potential future applications of the same technique, like allowing the studio to manipulate the performances through AI as well.
On attribution: Right now, Brahma AI is a studio tool rather than an attributed writer or actor. Human directors and VFX specialists are the primary claimants to creativity. However, as AI does more and more “work,” Hollywood is still wondering whether there should be any credits for AI contribution, which is an ongoing discussion. Indian moviegoers may overlook the disclaimer that there is an AI behind the film.
There is another ethical dimension: issues of accuracy and mythic content - can we be distorting a holy epic by using AI for dubbing? The filmmakers insist that the spirit of Ramayana is upheld. The critics have raised questions regarding some visual choices (costumes and characters), but it has nothing to do with the technology used.
Fact-Check: Separating Rumour from Reality
To sum up with bullet points:
Was AI used for voice performance in Ramayana?No. The official line is that all voices in dubbed versions were recorded by human artists. The AI (“Brahma AI”) only adjusts the visuals, not the sound.
Is Brahma AI a real company or just hype?Real. Brahma AI is a newly launched AI-tech company/platform (backed by Prime Focus/DNEG) valued around $2 billion. It sells AI tools for media, including the VAANI dubbing system used here.
What does Brahma’s VAANI technology do?It handles multilingual dubbing by matching lip movements. The filmmakers say they lip-synced the Hindi-shot footage to English dialogue using VAANI – no second shoot needed. It does not generate voices or replace actors, it refits the video.
Did any actors lose work to AI on this film?In Ramayana, no. The producers confirmed that dubbing roles were filled by real voice actors with skills in language and emotion. The AI step happened after those recordings.
Was AI used in the VFX or CGI?Not officially disclosed. The film’s massive CGI is done the traditional way by DNEG/ReDefine teams. Any AI use (for example in texture upscaling or roto work) has not been mentioned. Publicly, the only AI spotlight is on the dubbing.
Has Brahma AI been verified to work?The Ramayana release will be one of its highest-profile tests. Industry watchers note it’s the “most-watched deployment” of AI dubbing tech so far. Only audience response to the final film can confirm how seamless it is.
Crediting and Ownership: The film’s credits will list the VFX studios (DNEG, ReDefine) and the voice artists. It’s unclear if “Brahma AI” gets a credit line – probably not, as it’s a tool. This follows current practice (software tools generally aren’t individually credited like people are).
Tiwari’s Ramayana aims to marry age-old storytelling with cutting-edge technique. The mythic world of Ayodhya and Lanka is built on painstaking VFX craft, while modern AI quietly helps the tale cross language barriers. As director Nitesh Tiwari put it, the goal is for the audience to “enjoy it in their native language” without noticing the technology.
In short: AI in Ramayana isn’t doing magic to the story itself, but fine-tuning the delivery. The human heart of the epic – the actors, the music (by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer), the writing – remains central. Viewers can watch the film with confidence that the controversy is largely resolved: Ramayana is no showcase of AI actors; it’s a showcase of how AI can serve human creativity.
Sources: Production statements and interviews; reporting from The Indian Express, Mint, NDTV, TechReview.Trade, Business Standard, etc., with updates as of late Oct 2026. All points above cite direct sources; unverified rumors are explicitly called out.
Comments