FILMS



VIKPAT
BY
VIKRANT PATANKAR



FADE IN:

 Vikrant dreams to bring Hollywood to the tech scene of San Francisco.
He's also a Kothari and EV Fellow.

All work on this page is written, directed, shot, edited and colored by Vikrant unless noted otherwise.


UPCOMING WORK
MuseYardOld Dream (Q426)Untitled Debut Short


VALUES
1. Do things regardless.

FILMS
Composio
$25m Series A launch — Agents! Agents! Agents!
Brand / Musical / Comedy
Ship Agents in Tenderloin
Product Demo / Comedy
Rube Recipes launchProduct Demo / ComedyAgent Orchestrator launchProduct DemoTrust at ComposioBrandComposio SkillsProduct DemoDatabase for AI AgentsPodcast2025 AI Agent ReportEditorial ReportSF Tech WeekEventYC AgentMail HackathonEvent
Catalyx Space$5m Seed Round announcement — InterstellarBrand / ThesisRex 2.0 Capsule Drop TestHardware Demo
BonusO-1 announcementComedyMeeting FarzaVlogFirst Sunrise of 2026
Personal Film
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in 70mmTravel


ESSAYS
To AI or not to AIFor the Love of Interstellarlet's stop fetishizing "understanding"fleeting crush


PRESS
Why tech startups are hiring in-house filmmakersThe Times of IndiaThe Story Behind a New Kind of Tech-Filmmaking CareerLA WeeklyWhy AI Won't Replace Filmmaking, According To Vikrant Patankar
INVERSEMumbai Chawl To The Global Stage: The Enigma Of A Filmmaker That Is Vikrant PatankarOutlook IndiaWhy AI Startups Are Hiring In-House FilmmakersTech TimesFellowships open a door for campus entrepreneursThe Economic Times




And we-

CUT TO:

Credits.
End.


Short-formTO AI OR NOT TO AI
"Fuck AI" to everyone who thinks AI is here to replace Ghibli or Pixar.
Having rewatched Spirited Away and Coco on the big screen this week, I'm convinced that human-made art — everything from writing to animation to music composition to performance — is not going anywhere.
  1. Spirited Away (2001) at AMC Metreon 16
  2. Coco (2017) with live orchestra at SF Symphony
Something about this whole "AI causing disruption" and "taking over the world of films and art" feels absolutely fishy. We've seen this kind of hype before. Remember when "NFT art" was supposed to dethrone real art?
Tbh I'd rather make movies with 1000s of talented souls than try to mimic "the exact same results" by just texting a machine.
Look at this beautiful orchestra.
If I wanted to hear the soundtrack, I could've just played it on my phone. If I wanted to watch the movie, I could've done it on my laptop. And if they wanted to perform the score live, they could've easily done it with half the number of performers, without most of the audience even noticing any difference.
Yet they chose to go full-blown. Because that's what artists do.
There's always a "yet" in the world of arts.
People here aren't "solving problems" like they do in tech.
Art was never about efficiency.
Art was always about doing things regardless.
Craft was always about achieving perfection.
Efficiency has its place. Every great artist embraces constraints: limited time, limited resources, limited tools. But when efficiency becomes the goal instead of the constraint, that's when art loses its meaning.
So the next time you try convincing a Nolan to shoot digital, he simply won't... despite the pristine 8K RAW magic of next-gen cameras. He's not rejecting technology; he's staying true to his belief. Other directors shoot digital for the same reason — belief. What matters isn't the medium, but the conviction behind it.
So if you believe you can make "the same exact thing" by texting a machine, good for you. Just like a true artist, commit to your belief.
Granted, AI filmmaking is a great way to start solo. But would you really want to die making films solo?
At the end of the day, filmmaking was always a team sport. And despite AI being faster and more efficient, it will never replicate the joy and struggles of directing tens, if not thousands, of talented people.
Even if you build an entire team of GenAI artists, would you really want your decades of filmography to be limited to GenAI?
AI won't replace filmmakers; it'll just commoditize creation. Another wave of quick content, meant to either sell you something (huge up for the advertisement industry) or entertain you like a TikTok or YouTube video would.
Not saying there's no art in making TikTok or YouTube videos, but good luck selling tickets for your GenAI feature film, orchestra, or concert.
Talking about concerts — I wonder who would show up for a GenAI music festival where everything from lyrics to performance is AI-generated, lol.
Granted, the studio system has its own flaws — from bureaucracy to creative control to gatekeeping. But being all rebellious about it, saying AI will dethrone them, is nonsensical. If studios start using GenAI themselves just like the indies, we're all in for a mess, lmao. Remember what happened when every studio chased 3D or Marvel-esque CGI? Saturation only ever leads to apathy.
GenAI should get you started, not become the only way you create.
This whole pro-GenAI debate in the world of arts is just a rebel without a cause of sorts.
And to be clear, this isn't meant to demotivate young creators dreaming of the big screen. I'm actually a huge supporter of the Internet Cinema movement, creators like American Baron and studios like Camp Studios.
Two Sleepy People (2025) premiere at Palace of Fine Arts Theater
As a film lover, I'll always value 50 musicians in an orchestra or the thousands of talented artists behind a film more than someone claiming that texting AI is here to dethrone human art.
P.s. I'd actually love to see robots perform live one day — but only if they can bring that same pinch of serendipity and improvisation humans do.
Read on X
EMAILXIGLI