VFX: The “present” of Bollywood
The Indian remake of “Avatar” isn’t coming anytime soon but Bollywood for years has been awestruck by the surreal imagery being used by the Hollywood film makers. With the Iron man flying in the endless sky in his sexy suit of armor and the spiderman fighting the deformed scientists with his superhuman speed, strength and the ability to stick to surfaces ,Bollywood too has started taking baby steps in the field of visual effects ,with Krishh and Ra one as their brainchild.
Up until five years ago, producers were unwilling to embrace technology, preferring instead to spend millions on expensive outdoor shoots and sets. That changed when India became a viable back-end destination for Hollywood films like “Tron” and “Avatar” amid a growing wave of outsourcing post-production special effects due to cost. The number of studios handling VFX (visual effects) that include mixes of live-action footage and computer-generated images mushroomed.
Just to have a basic understanding , visual effects (abbreviated VFX) are the processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, expensive, impractical, or simply impossible to capture on film.
Considered as one of the most advanced technologies these days ,in recent times VFX has given Bollywood some of its outrageously beautiful and impossible scenes. Here’s the list of some Bollywood movies which have used this new VFX technology to create some realistic and impossible scenes.
1.OM SHANTI OM: You are not stupid to think that Sunil Dutt redid his ‘Amprapali’ look for the Dhoom Tana song or Jitendra his Jay-Vijay look. But how many of you actually know about the four stage process of VFX they had to go through to produce the spectacular song?
2.DABANGG: Chulbul Pandey is no superhuman to set leaves flying in the sky or bring a tremors when he thumps his foot on the ground. Kudos to the amazing VFX!
3.READY: Did your heart skip a beat to see your favorite hero and heroine dangling from the branch of a tree? Don’t worry for it’s all the magic of VFX. The movie is created by the VFX designers of FutureWorks.
4.RA One: Most of the scenes of Ra one movie is digitally edited. Ra One has around 3,500 VFX shots which set a benchmark for digital innovation and use of technology in movie marketing for Bollywood. VFX, software like Maya, Houdini and Macs, Nuke and Shake(for composites) were heavily used in this movie.
5.BHAG MILKHA BHAG: It was surprising to know that the jam-packed stadiums with the crowd cheering for Milkha Singh in the movie was all fake. It was all VFX even there. Most of the scenes of the Farhan Akhtar’s movie, ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ is edited by Mumbai based Pixion studios, which has delivered 160 VFX shots for Farhan Akhtar starrer blockbuster ‘Bhag Milkha Bhag’ on a tight schedule of 65 days.
6.KICK:No he doesn’t walk past that coming train and now you know how it was all done.
7.MAIN HOON NA: Yes VFX is there! Be it the explosion sequence or the brave Ram Prasad Sharma being brutally hit by the dashing villain of the movie ,VFX is there and everywhere.
8.AASHIQUI 2: The movie reflects the musical journey of two lovers Rahul (Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Arohi (Shraddha Kapoor) who go through a journey of love and hatred. Most of the stadium performance scenes are created with VFX effects.
9.CHENNAI EXPRESS: Most of the movies scenes are created with VFX technology for giving you the surreal and breathtaking experience.
10.WANTED: You muist have thought that your favorite stars work out day and night for obtaining that unbelievable physique. It doesn’t seem true from the picture!
