Can Bengal artists ride Ghibli AI trend to reach global audience? Jury is out
Times of India | 1 April 2025
1234 Kolkata: The latest image generator released on OpenAI's ChatGPT featuring artwork inspired by Studio Ghibli has prompted many in the art and film fraternity to envision the possibility of a trend, where avatars in Jamini Roy and Narayan Debnath's distinctive styles could ascend to global prominence. While numerous enthusiasts are contemplating its prospective advantages, many others are apprehensive of the ramifications of such technological adaptations.
Known for classics, such as ‘My Neighbor Totoro' and ‘Princess Mononoke', Tokyo-based Studio Ghibli, Inc was founded on June 15, 1985, by three visionaries—animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author and manga artist Hayao Miyazaki, film director Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki.
Artist Samindranath Majumdar is receptive to the concept of image generation, emulating the distinctive styles of Bengal's master cartoonists, too, for recreating cult movie scenes and characters. "Until last week, numerous people in Bengal were unfamiliar with Miyazaki. Today, they have enthusiastically embraced the trend of acquiring their avatars. I trust some among them will delve into researching his authentic works and appreciate his brilliance. I would be happy if similar interest develops for the works of Bengal's cartoonists, like Narayan Debnath, too," Majumdar said.
While imitation might be a form of flattery, the inability of Bengal's cartoons to appeal to the global market might be an impediment. "Every place has its own popular stuff. In Japan, I have seen people reading Manga in crowded trains. We have witnessed the global fandom of Korean drama, K-pop and J-horror. It's not only connected with production quality but also with global distribution and circulation strategies. In Bengal, we don't have that kind of production value for comics. Limited focus on the local market might come in the way of our cartoon styles becoming global trends. Perhaps there can be a global fandom for art associated with ‘Bahubali' or ‘Pushpa'," said Madhuja Mukherjee, film studies professor at Jadavpur University.
Even if Bantul and Handa-Bhonda's style catches the fancy of image generators, Majumdar isn't sure about how the lines of great painters can be replicated by AI. "I am cautious of AI's capability to authentically reproduce the original style of Jamini Roy," she said.
JU professor Abhijit Gupta, who has been archiving Bengali comics for a long time now, said the possibility was always there, though "not something that needs to be taken seriously". "Leaving aside the question of intellectual property, tech or AI replication of styles will probably have very short shelf lives," Gupta said.
Cartoonist, graphic novelist and documentary filmmaker Sarbajit Sen, an ardent admirer of Miyazaki, said emulating a style was not unprecedented in the realm of art. "Narayan Debnath himself adapted a comic, ‘Desperate Dan', while developing the character of Bantul. Numerous young artists subsequently tried to replicate his style. Whether it is AI or an artist, an imitation shall remain an imitation. It will never be capable of recreating the maestro's soul. If technology ever duplicates Jamini Roy and Narayan Debnath's works, it hardly matters to me," Sen said.
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