3-minute AI Mahabharata to capture Gen Z

Marrying ancient stories of India with contemporary technologies of the world, is what Vijay Subramaniam, Group CEO, Collective Artists Network, aims to do with his creation ‘Historyverse’, beginning with the Mahabharata tailored for social media consumption.

The adaptation is set to be India’s first AI-led micro-drama comprising over 600 episodes, each lasting three to four minutes. This format is designed to resonate with the shorter attention spans typical of Gen Z and young millennials.

“For me, the real kick about the Historyverse is how do you marry technology, progress, creativity and formats, that’s the trifecta, I don’t think AI is the winner here, the fact that you can churn out stories at scale, at speed about the history of the country, AI is the enabler,” Subramaniam told PTI in an interview.

He said he has designed the Mahabharata series in a way to capture the attention of the young Indian audience, as the country has one of the largest youth populations in the world.

“I have to maintain the divinity and devotion of what my grandmother would like, but I’m not making her watch it, I’m making the kids watch it, I’m making the rank and file of India watch it,” he said.

“For me, serving spirituality in a palette that young India can watch is my target without affecting the divinity and the holiness of the text,” Subramaniam added.

The choice of social media platforms like Instagram for releasing the series, Subramaniam said, is a conscious decision as he wants to transition traditional content into a format that can be ‘scrollworthy.’

Subramaniam believes that there is an attention deficiency across the country: “If I need to get my daughter out of Captain America and Iron Man and make her watch this, it has to be in that scrollworthy format.”

According to the creator, he and his team relied solely on AI to generate everything from visuals to voiceovers to music, and added that there are no CGI characters or any reliance on body mapping to create the series’ characters.

Subramaniam’s company recently launched India’s first AI travel creator, first AI rock band, among other things.

However, developing an AI series comes with its challenges, the producer-creator said, adding that in narrating an epic series like Mahabharata, it is all about evoking emotion.

Apart from mythological themes, he plans to expand their horizons further and explore narratives surrounding prominent figures such as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and various kings throughout India’s history.

“We’re developing something for kings, for the temple, it will be across the board, it won’t be just one (type of show). Because I want young India to view our country from a different palette,” Subramaniam added.