{"id":44808,"date":"2026-01-25T03:40:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalindian.com\/youth\/?post_type=story&p=44808"},"modified":"2026-01-25T23:21:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T17:51:32","slug":"how-suvaditya-mukherjee-an-indian-student-in-the-us-helped-reimagine-a-hollywood-classic-using-ai","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/old.globalindian.com\/youth\/story\/cover-story\/how-suvaditya-mukherjee-an-indian-student-in-the-us-helped-reimagine-a-hollywood-classic-using-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"How Suvaditya Mukherjee, an Indian student in the US, helped reimagine a Hollywood classic using AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

(January 25, 2026) <\/strong>In August 2024, Suvaditya Mukherjee landed in Los Angeles carrying two suitcases and a slight sense of unease. It was the first time he had travelled so far away from his parents who are based in Mumbai. For first time Mumbai felt less like a city and more like a memory measured in flight hours. Nearly 8,700 miles separated him from home. At that moment, his life looked like that of many international students who navigate new country, unfamiliar systems, and the slow process of starting over.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Suvaditya did not know then was that a few months later, a casual conversation on campus would lead him to one of the most ambitious film-and-technology projects Hollywood has ever attempted. <\/span>\u201cIt was honestly the experience of a lifetime,\u201d the youngster would later say.<\/span><\/p>\n

A year after arriving in the US, Suvaditya found his name in the credits of <\/span>The Wizard of Oz at Sphere<\/span><\/i>, an ambitious reimagining of the 1939 classic film that has been described as Hollywood\u2019s most significant experiment yet with artificial intelligence. The project, expected to generate more than a billion in revenue, places a nearly century-old film inside Sphere, in Las Vegas, one of the most technologically advanced entertainment venues ever built.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Suvaditya, now a Master\u2019s student in computer science at the University of Southern California<\/a>, the journey from arrival as a student in Los Angeles to working on a landmark Hollywood production has been a chain of chance encounters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Suvaditya

Learning to see through machines<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Suvaditya is pursuing a Master\u2019s in Computer Science with a specialisation in Artificial Intelligence at USC\u2019s Viterbi School of Engineering<\/a>. His academic interests lie in deep learning and generative AI, particularly in areas such as computer vision, 3D generation, and efficiency optimisation. Before coming to the US, he completed his Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science (AI) at NMIMS\u00a0University<\/a> in Mumbai, where his fascination with artificial intelligence began taking formal shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside his studies, the master\u2019s student works as a Machine Learning Engineer at Magnopus<\/a>, a global studio known for building immersive experiences that combine cinema, gaming, and extended reality. His work focuses on optimising 3D generative models and exploring how AI can be used to rapidly create detailed three-dimensional worlds. This landed him an opportunity to be part of a historic Hollywood project.<\/span><\/p>\n

How the Wizard of Oz came calling<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After arriving in Los Angeles, Suvaditya made a deliberate effort to immerse himself in research. He emailed as many as 248 professors looking for opportunities in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Of the handful who responded, Professor Benjamin Nye at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, and Professor Mark Bolas, a pioneer in mixed reality at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, offered him work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Working part-time with Professor Bolas, Suvaditya helped develop technical coursework and research at the intersection of AI and immersive media. During one conversation, he mentioned his excitement about the large-scale immersive reimagining of The Wizard of Oz<\/i> at Sphere that he had seen being announced at Google Cloud Next.<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Bolas happened to know someone at Magnopus, one of Sphere\u2019s key creative technology partners. One introduction led to another. At a USC Games showcase, Suvaditya met a Magnopus recruiter. Within weeks, he found himself joining a small, high-intensity team working on the final stages of the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rebuilding a film that was never meant to change<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Wizard of Oz<\/span><\/i> was released in 1939, shot in a way that was meant for the small theatre screens of its time. The film\u2019s charm lies in its theatrical staging, hand-painted sets, and carefully composed frames. But placing it inside Sphere, a massive wraparound venue designed to engulf viewers, posed a fundamental problem. The original footage simply did not contain enough visual information to fill such a space.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than stretching or cropping the film, which would have compromised its integrity, the creative teams turned to artificial intelligence. Engineers from Magnopus worked alongside researchers and artists from Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Sphere Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery to develop systems capable of enhancing and expanding the original footage without altering performances or storytelling. Nearly 90 percent of the film was enhanced using AI, yet the goal was never to modernise the story, rather to preserve it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n