In a first, A.R. Rahman has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recreate the voices of two late legendary singers — Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed — for a song in the upcoming Tamil film Lal Salaam, the Oscar-winning composer said on X.

Rahman employed advanced technology to recreate Bakya and Hameed’s voices for the song Thimiri Yezhuda, which will be a part of the Aishwarya Rajinikanth-directed film featuring Rajinikanth in an extended cameo.

"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," Rahman wrote on X, sharing Sony Music South’s post highlighting how an AI tool was used to recreate the voice of the legendary singers.

“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,” Sony Music South wrote on X.

Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed were close collaborators with Rahman, contributing to numerous chart-topping hits. Bamba Bakya had most recently lent his voice to the song Ponni Nadhi from Ponniyin Selvan: Part I. Shahul Hameed is known for the foot-tapping number Urvasi Urvasi from Kadhalan (1994). Unfortunately, Shahul Hameed met a tragic end in a car crash in 1997, while Bamba Bakya succumbed to a cardiac arrest in 2022.

Lal Salaam, produced by Subaskaran Allirajah under Lyca Productions, features a star-studded cast, including Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth, Vignesh, Livingston, Senthil, and Thambi Ramaiah. Rajinikanth is set to play an extended cameo in the film, which is anticipated to promote religious harmony.

Listen to the song Thimiri Yezhuda here: