2024-05-12 18:06:38
These days, there is a lot of effort going on in Bollywood to bring stories, characters and mythological stories related to Indian roots on screen in a new form through modern technology and VFX. In this series, there is talk of tremendous VFX in films like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Ramayana’ and Shaktimaan.
highlights
- Currently, a lot of films are being made in Bollywood based on mythological stories with very expensive VFX.
- But how ready is Bollywood for VFX? Because many movies stopped after they started
- There is talk of amazing VFX of films like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Shaktimaan’.
In the year 2015, SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ had widened the eyes of the filmmakers by earning around Rs 600 crore (gross). Then its sequel ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ earned Rs 1000 crore in India alone. These were figures that the Indian box office had never seen before. Therefore, many more filmmakers announced to make films with huge budget and VFX. ‘Brahmastra‘, ‘Adipurush‘, ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’ were part of that dream, but most of them lost their sweat in creating this illusive world of expensive VFX. Despite this, some makers are firm on this mission and in the coming days, efforts are on to create many great VFX films like ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, ‘Ramayana’ and ‘Shaktiman’. However, till now, be it ‘Adipurush’ or ‘Ram Sethu’, most of the films have proved to be weak in terms of VFX. In such a situation, the question arises whether Bollywood is ready to raise this expensive technology and the necessary budget for it? The question is also whether these films will do wonders like ‘Baahubali’ or will they cause disgrace like ‘Adipurush’? Because often the makers start these films with amazing vision with great enthusiasm, but due to the increasing budget due to expensive VFX, they are forced to compromise on quality in the middle. Here’s an investigation:
kalki movie poster
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The journey of VFX has been difficult
If we look at the record till now, it has not been easy for the producers who dreamed of making films with grand visuals like ‘Baahubali’. Be it ‘Brahmastra’ or ‘Adipurush’. Ayan Mukherjee had the ambitious dream of creating a unique three-film fantasy franchise using VFX technology on the lines of Hollywood, but in his own words, ‘When I started working on the film, I came to know that neither such technology exists in our country. It’s the budget, not the technology. That is why the first part of the film took several years to be made. Due to non-completion of VFX work, the release date had to be postponed several times. There was a lot of talk about Prabhas’s ‘Adipurush’ having amazing special effects, but after the teaser came out, it was so criticized that the release of the film had to be postponed. Even a huge effort was made to improve it by spending more money on VFX, but the result remained the same.
Ranbir Kapoor is becoming Ram like this, changed his hairstyle again for ‘Ramayana’, fans said – brother’s jawline is sharper than a knife.
Vicky Kaushal’s ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’ had to be closed
After the success of ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’, director Aditya Dhar announced to make the mythological superhero film ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’ with Vicky Kaushal, but due to not being able to raise the budget for VFX of that level, he had to abandon this project. Had to be put on hold. Aditya said, ‘I will have to wait until the technology becomes affordable to get the kind of visual effects I wanted to make in this film.’ Apart from these, the VFX of popular films with big stars like ‘Kalank’, ‘Ram Sethu’, ‘Bhuj’, ‘Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan’ have also been disappointing.
Aditya Dhar announced to make mythological superhero film ‘The Immortal Ashwatthama’ with Vicky Kaushal, but due to VFX the film is on hold.
Sai Pallavi and Ranbir Kapoor on the sets of Ramayana film, Photo: zoom and x.com/filmexplorer
Comparison with Hollywood is not right
DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra, who has done VFX for Hollywood films like ‘Dune’, ‘Inception’, ‘Tenet’, is also busy in giving new heights to visual effects in India with films like ‘Brahmastra’ and ‘Ramayana’. On the reason why special effects have not reached that level here compared to Hollywood, he says, ‘Work in VFX has been going on in Hollywood for the last 40 years. We have been paying little attention to this in the last 8-10 years. I believe that in the next ten years we will see a different level of VFX here too and opportunities will increase in this direction.
‘Prabhas’ Kalki 2898AD will prove to be India’s Avengers!’, ‘Bhallaldev’ Rana Daggubati praised the film.
The courage of the makers will open new paths.
Trade analyst Komal Nahta also completely agrees with Namit. According to Komal Nahata, ‘It is true that CG is very expensive, which requires a lot of budget. But these mythological films cannot be made without computer graphics and visual effects because these stories are coming on TV also. People will come only if you show something better than films and TV. However, it is also true that there are many people thinking of doing this, but very few who execute because the budget is very high and the market of Hindi films is limited. Still, no one had imagined that ‘Baahubali’ earned so much at that time. So it is said that luck also favors the courageous. Therefore the makers will have to show courage. Like Namit is saying, two or four such makers will come who will break all the rules and make films with very big budgets. Only a few of these films will shine and open new paths.
Is Prabhas’s ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ the Indian version of Hollywood movie ‘Dune’? Director Nag Ashwin cited ‘Sand’!
Will Ranbir-Ranveer win the bet?
These days, director Nitish Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana’ based film is the most talked about among the grand mythological films with VFX. In the film, Ranbir Kapoor will be seen in the role of Ram and South actress Sai Pallavi will be seen in the role of Sita. It is being said that its budget will be more than Rs 400 crore. On the other hand, there is talk of more than Rs 200 crore being spent on the VFX of Prabhas and Deepika Padukone’s ‘Kalki 2898 AD’. Apart from this, recently Ranveer Singh has also joined the race of films with these grand visuals. The news is that he will be coming on the big screen as the desi superhero ‘Shaktiman’. There will be special emphasis on visual effects in this film also.
About the Author
Upma Singh: 17 years of experience in journalism. Amar Ujala reached Navbharat Times after gathering experiences from Lucknow and Dainik Bhaskar Ludhiana. Currently working as Assistant Editor in NBT Mumbai. Cinema is love, passion and profession, so she has a deep grasp on subjects related to cinema and cinematic personalities. At the same time, she also writes a sharp pen on gender equality and women’s issues. For this she has also been honored with the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity. Read more
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