Lal Salaam: First in India, Rahman Recreates Late Singers' Voices with AI; Kin Sent 'Deserving' Fees

AR Rahman resurrected voices of late singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed for upcoming film Lal Salaam. The music composer took to social media to clarify that the makers sought permission to recreate the voices through AI models and also sent remuneration to the families of the late singers.

Hyderabad:Oscar-winning music composer A R Rahman has disclosed that his team obtained proper authorisation to use an AI software in recreating the voices of late singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed for a song in Rajinikanth's upcoming film, Lal Salaam.

The track, titled Thimiri Yezhuda, credits the mesmerizing voices of Bamba Bakya & Shahul Hameed, and it stands as a groundbreaking achievement in the industry, being the first instance of resurrecting a late legend's voice through AI models, as announced by Sony Music South on Monday.

"The mesmerizing voices of Bamba Bakya & Shahul Hameed in #ThimiriYezhuda from #LalSalaam made possible by @timelessvoicesx AI voice models. This marks the first time in the industry that a late legend's voice has been brought back to life," a post on official handle of Sony Music South reads.

In response to the studio's announcement, Rahman added that his team sought permission from the families of Bakya and Hameed before utilising their voice algorithms for the song. He also said that technology is not a threat if used responsibly and accompanied the statement with the hashtags #respect and #nostalgia.

"We took permission from their families and sent deserving remuneration for using their voice algorithms ..technology is not a threat and a nuisance if we use it right#respect #nostalgia," he wrote on the micro blogging site.

Bamba Bakya, known for his vocals in popular songs like 'Ponni Nadhi' in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan, passed away in September 2022 at the age of 42. He had also lent his voice to tracks in Rajinikanth's 2.0, Vijay's Bigil, and Sarkar.

Shahul Hameed, who collaborated extensively with Rahman on films like Gentleman, Jeans, and Kadhalan, passed away in 1998. Lal Salaam, directed by Aishwarya Rajnikanth, features actors Vishnu Vishal and Vikranth and is scheduled for release on February 9

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