Rs 400 crore Jana Nayagan teaser shows Google Gemini logo for one frame, internet reacts
A teaser of the Rs 400-crore South Indian film Jana Nayagan briefly showed a Google Gemini AI watermark in one frame, which later went viral on social media. The logo was removed in an updated version, but not before triggering debates around AI use and editing lapses.
New Delhi: A teaser of a big-budget South Indian film has unexpectedly pulled Google’s AI model Gemini into the spotlight. There was a very brief shot of a Google Gemini watermark in one frame of the teaser, but it was removed. This one-frame slip was sufficient to start the discussion that is going to spread all around social networking sites.
The teaser was of the movie Jana Nayagan, which was supposedly produced with a budget of Rs 400 crore. Despite the removed watermark in subsequent uploads, screen videos of the original version went viral on the internet. The incident caused discussions concerning the use of AI in the film industry, the quality control, and the way such a mistake would pass through in what was a major production.
The Gemini logo appears for a split second
The watermark was only visible in one frame of the teaser, during a dramatic scene where one of the characters is loading a shotgun. The scene itself did not have the logo. It seemed like an old watermark, which is usually visible when machine learning is utilised in the testing process or at the initial stages of work.
As soon as audiences noticed it, clips started to spread on X several minutes later. The filmmakers were accused by many users of generating visuals with the help of AI and not taking off the watermark. Some wondered how so minor a fact could be overlooked in a movie of this kind.
Teaser edited, but damage already done
The production crew hurriedly substituted the teaser with the edited version that eliminated the Gemini logo. But by this time the original clip had already spread to virality. As is customary with the internet, the fixed version did not help much to stifle the debate.
The response was both humour and memes as well as one of criticism. Other users termed the error as negligent. Some of them were in shock that a project of Rs 400 crore could not miss one frame.
What is Google Gemini?
The event also compelled most individuals to pose a fundamental question, which is, what is Google Gemini? The best-known AI model in Google is Gemini. It is able to produce pictures, write and summarise, translate languages, and codify and make content.
It drives a number of Google applications and developer platforms and is made one of the main rivals of other sophisticated AI models. It is finding its way through creative processes in all industries, the media and entertainment being no exceptions.
Watermark is not the ultimate AI usage
Specialists and technology users did not take long to note a significant detail. A watermark does not assume that the end product was completely produced with the help of AI. This type of logo is typically observed in the processes of trial mode, rough drafts, or reference testing involving AI tools.
In film, AI has been applied to generate placeholders or test images prior to the production of final shots in a more traditional manner. Here, the issue seems to be a lapse in editing and not evidence of AI-produced final images.
The Jana Nayagan controversy does not have much to do with films; rather, it has more to do with the extent to which AI has penetrated creative labour in daily duties. Since their first rudimentary versions through visual experiments, AI tools have become a standard production pipeline.
It took only one frame to show that reality. AI is already here, whether it is polished or messy. And it even appears where no one wants to see it.