Can Ra.One Be the Saviour of Indian Sfx

By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 24 September 2011, 00:17 IST
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"That's the best piece of crappy SFX I have ever seen." "Chill out dude. What more do you expect from an Indian movie?" Now that sounds very proverbial to us, is it not? Spending valuable bucks on an Indian movie with senseless visual effects and low budget animations has infuriated us quite often. After all, we are living in the Avatar-Harry Potter era and it's not a luxury to anticipate SFX from an Indian movie in least par with 'Jurassic Park' standards. To put it simple - quality matters. We were always fascinated by cutting edge CGI and stunning animation crafted to perfection in Hollywood movies. From the 1968 epic sci-fi movie '2001: A Space Odyssey' to the 2011 live-action movie 'Transformers: Dark of the moon', films made abroad have been thrilling Indian audience with its leap in technical precision. Now the film in context is Ra.One. All set to become the costliest film made in India ever upon release, Ra.One claims to have visual effects of Hollywood standards. Releasing amidst an audience fusing fast to western tastes and hardcore Hollywood loyalists who even consider the movie posters of 'Apocalypse Now' far more classy to its Indian contemporaries, Ra.One's critical verdict would be tough for sure. Ra.One is the current phase in the evolution of Indian special effects, an evolution which stayed a bit dormant in all the primary stages. Travelling through a generation who felt goose bumps with Sholay and Mr.India, special effects took a stride in 2003 with the film 'Qayamat: City Under Threat' becoming the first totally post-produced and color graded special effects centric movie in India. The entire platoon of planes and warships was digitally created. Though a significant feat for India, it was a far cry at a time when 'Independence Day', 'The Matrix' trilogy, and the 'Star Wars' trilogy all of which were color graded for SFX, overwhelmed us. Digital SFX were imported in the mid-90s with foreign technicians. But the scenario changed rapidly and today Indian companies have regularly begun doing top-notch work for customers overseas. However Indian films still gazed like a kitty-lost-toddler since they couldn't afford such special effects well within budget. As the market evolved slowly, producers started experimenting with superstars like Rajnikanth and Hritik Roshan who had minimum guarantee of success. Hence came 'Robot', 'Krrish' and ‘Magadheera' to name a few. With the setting up of digital arts studios in Bangalore and Mumbai, new generation directors have more options to look forward to. And of course, for the discerning Indian moviegoer, computer generated special effects are hopefully not crappy anymore. Let's hope that upcoming Indian movies would adequately blend western technology along with its spicy romance, cheesy comedy and desi beats. After all, quality matters. (The author is Renjith VP, freelance writer)