Producer Ravi Shankar spoke in Hyderabad on Wednesday about the upcoming Telugu release of Hanuman Ansh on October 9. He said, "The youth have become polluted," due to AI deepfakes like the one targeting Janhvi Kapoor. He believes films like Hanuman Ansh will instil a much-needed fear of God.
Producer Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers spoke to the press in Hyderabad on Wednesday, announcing the release date of the Telugu-dubbed version of the sleeper hit Hanuman Ansh. He addressed the issue of toxicity on social media, which is bleeding into the generation of realistic deepfakes with AI. Ravi, who is distributing the Telugu version of the film through Mythri Movie Distributors LLP in Nizam, also said that films like Hanuman Ansh will instil a 'fear of God' in people and are much-needed.
Producer calls Hanuman Ansh collections a slap to the face
Ravi's production house has produced massive hits like Srimanthudu, Rangasthalam, Pushpa, and more. Talking about the collections of the film on Neem Karoli Baba, he said, "It is like a slap in the face to see a film with a ₹2 crore investment gross ₹400 crore in collections. We are spending crores of rupees with not much to show for it. But to get ₹400 crore for ₹2 crore, that's a real pan-Indian film. So, wherever possible, if you have skipped releasing it in any language, please release it in all languages. This film is a massive hit, not just revenue-wise. It's a much-needed film." Hanuman Ansh is releasing in Telugu on October 9.
Says Hanuman Ansh will put the fear of God in people
Ravi, who recently presented Peddi, added, "It has become really easy to sling mud at each other on social media. On top of that, they are now misusing AI, and no one knows what's real or fake. The youth have become polluted, be it online or otherwise. It is at a time like this that we need films with divine power that instil a fear of God. It is only beneficial to society. We are very happy that this film not only conveys a message and shows God and reality, but has also become a commercial superhit." This comes after Peddi actor Janhvi Kapoor recently fell prey to an objectionable deepfake of hers made using the song Chuttamalle from Devara.
Janhvi Kapoor's AI video condemned
An objectionable deepfake video of Janhvi from the song Chuttamalle in Devara: Part 1 recently circulated on social media. Her co-star Jr NTR first spoke out publicly against it, calling those who made it 'Disgusting, Sick and Shameless.'He also promised to take legal action against those who made and circulated it. He also urged the state and central governments to impose strict regulations on the use of AI.
Janhvi also issued a public statement calling it a serious violation and criminal misuse of technology. "Using technology criminally to objectify women and circulate fabricated content without their consent is a serious violation. It is almost equivalent to sexual assault. Almost every woman in my industry has faced this in some form. Now women everywhere are becoming victims of it," she wrote.
Khushbu Sundar, Vijay Deverakonda, Ram Pothineni, Chiranjeevi and several others also condemned those who made and spread the deepfake.