Ghibli AI fever has taken over our phone screens but this week we watched a movie Max, Min & Meowzaki by director Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy that wants to reclaim Hayao Miyazaki’s real legacy, reigniting debates around artistic originality and a long-standing criticism of AI-generated art. The filmmaker believes the social media discourse on the subject has missed what truly makes the Japanese master timeless.

His Hindi film starring Adil Hussain, Nasser, Medha Shankr, Siddharth Menon, Mandira Bedi, Nafisa Ali and Vidhatri Bandi among others, even names its feline after Miyazaki. But the reference for Narasimhamurthy, it’s about bringing back the values that define Miyazaki’s cinema. “I think the biggest thing is friendship,” he says. “If it’s genuine, it endures. You see that throughout the film. Every relationship begins with friendship before it becomes anything else. That’s something Miyazaki has always understood. Whether it’s between men and women, humans and non-humans, his films always celebrate the depth of friendship.”