American influencer to play AI character in Malayalam movie

At a time when overseas and regional Indian films are zealously employing AI in their movies, a Kerala-based director-producer duo are going the other way by casting a human in the role of an AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) character in an upcoming movie. An AGI robot is a futuristic, next-generation idea. It possesses human-like capabilities, unlike mere AI robots, which, as IBM explains, “combine computer science and robust datasets to enable problem-solving.” Another concept called Generative AI (GAI) is about enabling users to quickly generate new content based on various inputs – examples are OpenAI’s Chat-GPT and text-to-image generators like DALL·E.

This will most likely be the first time an AGI robot is cast as a character in a movie. The AGI actor, like all AGI robots that we envisage, will coexist and work with humans without prompts and commands. As of now, the idea remains in the realm of illusion although the likes of tech billionaire Elon Musk and others insist that it is a short-term possibility.

US-born social-media influencer and entrepreneur Aparna Mulberry, who is well-versed in Malayalam and has a Malayali wife, will play the AGI character. As someone who has spent many years in Kerala, she also teaches English to Malayalis, helping them obliterate typical mistakes, especially as regards intonation and pronunciation. This is also the film in which Mulberry – who has a huge following on social media – is making her debut as an actor. Mulberry, whose character is tentatively named Monica in the film, is also one of the playback singers for the soundtrack.

The film, which is produced by Mansoor Palloor under the banner of Zams Production House, will be directed by EM Ashraf. A former journalist, Ashraf is an award-winning director of Uru (dhow) starring the late Mamukkoya, a veteran Kerala actor. An author, Ashraf had earlier made a short film called Bonjour Mayyazhi based on the novelist M Mukundan’s characters. The shooting for the movie, whose title is yet to be finalised, took place in Mahe, Kochi and Kasargod. It will be dubbed into multiple languages.

The film centres on the interactions between a hyperactive autistic child disinterested in studies and Monica, who trains the former to stay focused and acquire the skills needed to thrive in life.

Kerala is not new to the use of advanced technology in cinema and hi-tech characters. The first three-dimension movie in India, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), was made in Malayalam.

Aparna Mulberry. Malayalamartificial intelligencecinemaIndian DiasporaMonicaMy Dear KuttichathanRobot