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Costly or Cost-effective
The most common reason that filmmakers give for not really going the whole
VFX way is that it is quite a costly affair. While in Hollywood films VFX could
account for over 50% of the total cost of production, it barely touches 10% in
rare cases in India.
Abhishek De, VFX director, who is working with Future Works on films like
Mission Istanbul and Jannat, feels that cost is a major factor for filmmakers.
A visual effects sequence can cost anything between Rs 5,000-50,000 per second,
or more, depending on the complexity of the shot. Typical Hindi movie budgets
are not in a position to commit that kind of money. VFX is not cheap, and a lot
of manpower goes into every project, it isnt a commodity. Thankfully, the
mindset is beginning to change, he says. He should know having worked with
movies like One Two Three, Awarapan, Mangal Pandey, Jism, Life in a Metro,
Jajantaram Mamantaram, among others.
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| VFX is coming up in a big way
in India. Over the past 2-3 years, filmmakers have shown readiness to
experiment and explore new possibilities. These are ominous signs for the
VFX industry in India
Merzin Tavaria, creative head
(VFX/Animation), Prime Focus |
Khandpur debunks the costly premise all together. On the contrary, he says,
VFX is a great tool to save money. He gives an instance of a sequence that was
done by VCL for Dhoom 2. In the film, there is a sequence in which Aishwarya
Rai and Hrithik Roshan are shown stealing a rare valuable from the Mehergarh
Fort. In the sequence, the duo is shown jumping down a 400-foot rocky cliff. The
entire sequence was done in our studio, on a specially erected 12x12 foot set.
Imagine, if the makers had to shoot the scene in real life, it would have been
far more expensive and also very tedious and time consuming. So, from that
aspect, VFX can be used as a tool to save money, he states confidently.
Surely, money wasnt a matter at all for the makers of Sivaji who spent quite
a few crores on a 6-minute song clip in which Rajnikanth appears in a white
avatar.
Tech Challenged?
Are Indian VFX studios lacking in terms of technology usage? Not really.
Almost all major studios in India, like Prime Focus, VCL, Prasad EFX, and Future
Works, are using high-end systems like Inferno, Flame, or Flint. In fact, India
is one of the fastest growing markets for Autodesk, a company that manufactures
and sells these high-end machines.
There is a big reason why Indian studios are on a par with Hollywood Studios,
thanks to the miracle of outsourcing. A lot of Hollywood films are outsourcing
their graphic-intensive work to studios in India. Films like Spiderman 3,
Chronicles of Narnia, Superman Returns, and others have seen Indian studios
contributing to them. This has brought Indian studios on the same technology
platform, and slowly, this is percolating to domestic studios as well.
And when you cant learn fast enough, there is always the option to buy, like
Prime Focus did. We recently acquired a company in the US for expanding our
base, but more importantly for the technology IPR it has created, says Tavaria.
A critical aspect of Hollywood studios is that they develop a lot of
proprietary software depending on the project in hand, like Weta had done for
The Lord of the Rings. Indian companies are also waking up to the needs of doing
R&D. Tata Elxsi is a software company with over 3,000 engineers. We have a team
of software programmers that develops proprietary platforms for us, and we are
constantly working on devising new and innovative solutions for our makers,
says Khandpur. An instance of it was seen in the recently released Jodhaa Akbar,
in which a whole battle sequence, which displays thousands of soldiers, was
created by using a few hundred actors with the aid of massive replication
technique perfected by Weta in LOTR.
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How Rajnikanth got a
European Skin |
| In the latest Rajnikanth starrer
Sivaji, the director, Shanker, wanted to change Rajni's wheatish complexion
to a white European complexion. Indian Artists, a company that provides
visual effects and animation services, picked up the challenge.
To begin with, the studio conducted an in-depth
study of the European complexion and realized that the job was more
challenging than previously thought. For instance, it was found that the
white skin reflects more light and has less shadow when compared to dark
skin and is translucent in some areas. Therefore, a simple color correction
of Rajinikanth's skin would not achieve the desired effect.
For the shoot, a London-based young white
lady was chosen, and, with the help of cinematographer KV Anand, every shot
of Rajini was re-shot with the model. After the final edit, all the 630
Rajini shots and 630 girl shots were scanned in a 4K resolution. Each of the
9,000 scanned frames ware rotoscoped to separate the body parts (face,
hands, legs, etc). The white lady's skin was mapped onto the super star's
image using Eyeon 'Digital Fusion' software. And that is how Rajni got a
European white complexion.
The two main challenges before the studio
were to match the girl's action with that of Rajini and the second was
matching both of their body proportions during mapping. The work involved
was laborious and painstaking. It took twenty-five dedicated CG technicians
almost a year to achieve this 6-minute feat and cost the company a few crore
rupees. The project involved lot of hard work and immense detailing. I do
not think any other studio has attempted this kind of work. At the end, we
were happy that we could pull it off, considering the kind of attention any
Rajnikanth starrer gets, V Srinivas Mohan, visual director, Indian Artists
says.
So, what was the result? Well, Rajni's fans
happen to love him in almost any avatar that he dons, and they seemed to
love 'whiter' Rajini as much as they do the 'darker' one. It doesn't matter
if Rajni is black or white. |
Meanwhile, Jesh Krishna Murthy, who has worked on films like Batman Returns,
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, and The Cell and has set up shop in India by launching
a company called Anibrain, argues that it isnt all about technology. VFX is
not about machines or software; it has more to do with pushing the limits. I
don't see many people in India doing that. And unless we really push ourselves
hard, like developing software solutions, plug-ins, etc, we will never reach the
level Hollywood has, he says.
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Animation Goes Desi
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| One of the most notable
developments of the year 2007 was the slew of animation films that were
produced or announced for production for the domestic market. It is
estimated that at least fifteen such animation films are currently in
various stages of production. The
biggest animation film released in 2007 was the mythological sequel Hanuman
Returns.
Adlabs, along with Ocher Studios, is
producing a high-end CGI animation film, Sultan, on Indian superstar
Rajnikanth.
In 2007, Yashraj Films announced an alliance
with Walt Disney Studios for their first animation film in India, Roadside
Romeo, slated for release in June 2008.
UTV has also announced plans for four
domestic animation productions: Arjun, directed by Arnab Chaudhry, a blend
of 2D and 3D slated for release in 2009; Dream Blanket, directed by Ice Age
animator Simi Nallaseth and Alibaba; Chinku and the 40 Thieves, directed by
Soumitra Ranade; and, Krishna, directed by Rakeysh Mehra.
Shemaroo is expected to release Ghatothkach,
its second animation film after Bal Ganesh in 2008.
Govind Nihalini is reportedly working on
Kamlu, his first animation film and has also announced three other animation
projects.
The Indian Film Company (IFC) in 2007
announced its plans for collaboration with Richard Branson and Shekhar
Kapoors Virgin Comics to make three horror animation movies.
Maya Entertainment and 2nZ Animation
announced the production of a 2D animation titled Toonpur Ka Superhero,
starring Kajol and Ajay Devgan, directed by Kireet Khurana.
Dreams Studio is working on a few animation
films like Kutti Chetan and Friends and The Trap, based on the
Abhimanyu-Chakravuyah incident in the epic classic Mahabharata.
Source: India Entertainment & Media Industry
Sustaining Growth Report 2008 by FICCI and PriceWaterhouseCoopers |
Indeed, almost all VFX gurus, be they Khandpur or Tavaria, agree that the
biggest stumbling block is a lack of trained individuals and training
mechanisms. While a few studios like MICA and others are training people, the
requirement is much higher. With films like Love Story 2050 on the anvil, Indian
films are steadily raising the bar in terms of tech usage, and require a much
bigger talent pool than currently exists.
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| VFX is not cheap, and a lot of
effort goes into every project. But it isnt a commodity
Abhishek De, VFX director, Future Works |
Nonetheless, the future seems to be full of action for Indian VFX
professionals. For instance, after the success of Sivaji, Rajnikanth will appear
in an animated avatar, Sultan the Warrior, produced by his daughter Soundarya
Rajnikanth and Adlabs. The film, the first of its kind in India, promises to
break new grounds in the usage of CG and VFX.
Tavaria is hopeful about the success of Love Story 2050, which will be
released this year. Love Story 2050 is a path-breaking film in India in terms
of CG usage. It is a science-fiction love story; we have created futuristic
skyscrapers of Mumbai, conceptualizing the plan of the city. It is visually
stunning and will completely bowl the audience over, he says.
Meanwhile, octogenarian Babubhai continues to live in suburban Mumbai, and is
a mute spectator to the brilliant explosion of the art that he nurtured till
sometime back. While he confesses that he has not seen many of the recent
releases, he is quite impressed with the few that he has. These computers are
wonderful things, he says, adding, if only they existed during my times what
all things I could have done. Not surprisingly, the Indian film industry would
also like to have a few more passionate Babubhais to drive the VFX impetus.
Shashwat DC
shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in
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