Poster of the film Humans in the Loop

Humans in the Loop

Drama Hindi


Nehma, an Adivasi woman from the Oraon tribe, returns to her ancestral village with her children, Dhaanu (12) and Guntu (1), after her divorce. She begins work as a 'data labeller,' training AI models to recognise objects in images and videos. Finding AI childlike in its learning process, she imagines it seeing the world through her eyes, a connection she longs for with Dhaanu. Even as Nehma faces the challenge of giving Dhaanu-forever tempted to flee back to the city-a reason to stay, she notices AI adopting harmful human biases, some echoing prejudices against her community. Ultimately, Nehma realises she's battling not just for Dhaanu's future but for how technology and the world see people like her.

Cast:Sonal Madhushankar, Ridhima Singh, Geeta Guha, Anurag Lugun,
Director:Aranya Sahay
Writer:Aranya Sahay
Editor:Aranya Sahay

Guild Reviews

Image of scene from the film Humans in the Loop

A Profound Take on Artificial Intelligence and Natural Order

FCG Member Reviewer Rahul Desai
Rahul Desai | The Hollywood Reporter India
Wed, March 12 2025

Aranya Sahay’s beautifully conceived story won top honours at the 16th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes)

A great concept can be a curse. Take the one-liner of Humans in the Loop, for instance. An Adivasi single mother named Nehma (Sonal Madhushankar) starts working as a ‘data labeller,’ a job that requires her to train AI models to recognise the world in pictures and videos. This one-liner alone is so fertile — so ripe with cultural parables and documentary minimalism — that it’s hard to imagine a fictional film that expands on it. What can a feature-length story express that isn’t already implicit?

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