Koyal

Koyal turns a script or a piece of audio into a finished film, reading the emotional tone of the track and holding characters, locations and props consistent from scene to scene. Founded by Mehul Agarwal and Gauri Agarwal and backed by Y Combinator, it has made music videos for A.R. Rahman, Ricky Kej and Shankar Mahadevan, and works with Universal Music and T-Series. Its CHARCHA protocol checks that a likeness is only used with verified consent. On its site Koyal describes itself as an agentic AI filmmaking platform, currently in beta. It can turn a user into an avatar in their own films: the user uploads clips, and identity is validated in about a minute through C.H.A.R.C.H.A., a short check in which the person turns the head, squints, tilts the head and opens the mouth. The use cases it lists are advertisements, films and music videos, in animated, realistic and sketch styles. It says it works with more than forty models and picks the right one for each job, using a ranking refreshed weekly by more than a thousand voters, which is FilmArena, the leaderboard it also built. The partners shown on its site include Universal Music Group, T-Series, Maddock Films, Offbeet Studios, the University of Southern California and the Government of India.