readersdigest.co.in 31and other screenings will be niche, spe-
cialized events: festivals, group binge-
watches or combined film/panel meets.
Most films, however, will be seen on
screens that get smaller and smaller, and
to compensate, their diversity will only
grow. There will be new kinds of films
made, but more importantly, new kinds
of people will make them. Look at the
explosion of material on platforms such
as TikTok, and imagine the equivalent in
full-length cinema from people ignored
by large corporates—underrepresented
groups, non-celebrity creators. Films are
expensive to produce, which is why entry
barriers are still high, but with new tech-
nology we’ll find a boom in low-budget,
small-crew, risky-idea cinema—a movie
equivalent of the seismic changes that
have already transformed the music and
publishing industries as entry barriers
lowered and systems became more
democratic and more chaotic.
Over the next 20 years, expect major
shifts on the technical front. What’s more,
specialists will get replaced by software.
As cameras improve and artificial intel-
ligence (AI) gets better at fixing visual
glitches, cinematographers will largely
become obsolete, except as camera
operators. Similarly, music and sound
work will be done by machines. In time,
actors, writers and directors will be
optional as well. Already AI-generated
scripts exist, and animation’s ability to
generate human faces and bodies is get-
ting incredibly sophisticated. One day,
the idea of creating your own films sitting
at your computer will become a reality.
The entertainment industry, mean-
while, will move into virtual and aug-
mented reality filmmaking to render the
process more immersive, more addictive.
We’ll see experiments with interactive
film, where you choose where the story
goes, perhaps even become the protago-
nist with a VR headset. They’ll find a way,
with haptic bodysuits and simulators, to
integrate touch, smell, taste. When
smart-glasses and contact lenses become
widespread, you’ll have a large-screen
experience no theatre can match.In India, I suspect, things will play out
a little differently, given the public’s
obsession with stars. As soon as technol-
ogy allows it, we’ll see digital avatars of
our heroes achieve immortality, playing
out endless sequels of their hits well after
their physical deaths—not just film stars,
but cricketers, politicians, generic celeb-
rities, gifted acting and action talents. It’ll
be challenging for Indian filmmakers to
make anything truly innovative, as both
censors and markets will steer them
towards money-making Bollywood for-
mats. But when anyone can create lavish
traditionalist song-and-dance blockbust-
ers, it’s only a matter of time until even
our audience gets bored, and that will
lead to something truly interesting.WITH NEW TECH, WE’LL
FIND A BOOM IN LOW-
BUDGET, SMALL-CREW,
RISKY-IDEA CINEMA.Reader’s Digest