The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Way to go is the film route, says Soundarya Rajnikanth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Way to go is the film route, says Soundarya Rajnikanth

Priscilla Jebaraj

EXPANSION PLANS: Soundarya Rajnikanth, managing director of Ocher Studios with Mandep Singh Malik, senior vice- president, Teja Industries, at a case study presentation organised by FICCI in Chennai on Tuesday. — Photo: V. Ganesan

CHENNAI: When the toon avatar of Rajnikanth hits the silver screen next year, look out for the "Superstar" on gaming consoles as well.

"The best way to sell online gaming in India is to start with games based on popular films," says the actor's daughter Soundarya Rajnikanth, who is also managing director of Ocher Studios, the company co-producing the full-length animated feature film about him.

Speaking on the sidelines of a FICCI summit in Chennai on Tuesday, Ms. Rajnikanth pointed out Ocher is creating a gaming studio to execute console, internet as well as mobile-based games.

`Adventure game'

"We're starting with an adventure game... but we'll look at other genres as well," she said.

Ocher is in talks with international companies to create gaming content for a global market as well.

Ocher, whose first project was the title and graphic sequences for the Rajnikanth hit "Chandramukhi," is now going global on the film front as well.

After "Superstar" is released around Diwali 2008, Ms. Rajnikanth hopes to start work on a project "combining live action and [animation], on the lines of The Chronicles of Narnia."

She's also looking beyond entertainment. "Ocher will redefine 3D through R&D," she says.

She also explained that the technology of three-dimensional imaging has applications in areas as diverse as medicine and defence.

Huge investment

While most of the technology for this project is already available in the studios, the research and development programme will require an investment of several million dollars.

Exponential expansion is key to Ocher's ambitious plans.

The company has grown from 10 employees when it started in 2005, to a 80-member team this year and expects to have 200 to 250 people on board next year.

Two years later, when the gaming and 3D research projects are expected to be fully functional, Ms. Rajnikanth will be managing a team of 700 to 1,000 people.

She's already reaching for more. "Only two senses, visual and audio have been explored so far.

I want to see what can be done with touch, taste and smell," she says.

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