Realising dreams
ANUJ KUMAR
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Want to know about Hrithik Roshan's flight in "Krrish"? Read on.
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The most difficult part is when you have to blend the special effects with live action. Rajiv Raghunathan
EFFECTIVE! "Krrish" has some 90 minutes of visual effects.
His father might have given him wings at the box office but when you see Hrithik Roshan in flight in "Krrish", spare a word of praise for the Prasad EFX, Chennai.
One of the largest postproduction studios in India, this is the place where some 1200 VFX (visual effects) shots of "Krrish" have been executed.
"No Indian film has used more than 300-400 shots involving special effects, here 90 minutes have been devoted to them. So it was a challenge for us to match the effects with the subject. We had to create what Rakesh Roshan visualised in his mind. He had given us a brief that things should real. And after seeing the final result his words were, it is not like Hollywood, it is Hollywood," says Himakumar, Senior Line Producer, Prasad EFX.
The place was also the choice of Craig Mumma and Marc Kolbe - of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla" fame - the special effect supervisors of the film.
Himakumar says the entire postproduction has cost Rakesh something around 15 crores. "Had he got it done outside India, it would have cost him at least 100 crores."
Time is essence
Argues Rajiv Raghunathan, Senior Producer, Prasad EFX, Mumbai, "Cost is not the biggest factor these days, time and quality are. In the past films with special effects have suffered because special effects could not be completed in time." "Bhaggmati" is a case in point.
"Yes, here we completed the special effects simultaneously with the shooting." It took Prasad EFX eight months to complete the project almost the same time that Rakesh took to complete the shooting.
"The film has given us the belief that we can help filmmakers realise their dreams in time," quips Rajiv
Himakumar explains the effects with zest.
"When Hrithik flies over the city, we have created the cars, bikes, helicopters, birds and animals to match the live action footage. Then we have created a futuristic lab where Krrish sees the future."
Adds Rajiv, "The most difficult part is when you have to blend the special effects with live action. Here through some detailed planning and Hrithik's litheness, we have been able to blend it seamlessly. The most exciting ones are the circus scene and the climax."
Synergy
Himakumar says, "Generally, when actors are tied to ropes, they look stiff. But Hrithik is so supple that when we removed the wires, the shots looked absolutely natural. This is the kind of synergy that's required between the actors and the technical people."
This is also the reason he cites for not being perturbed when rather than the effects Rakesh is using songs to promote the film.
"It is his prerogative and then there are special effects in songs too."
As for the awareness, Himakumar says it is increasing. Recently they have digitally graded films like "Family", "Rang De Basanti" and "Alag". "In all the cases script demanded it."
He explains in "Rang De... " the story switches between the past and the present, so the director wanted two different tones to represent the time lapse. "We have recently done a Hollywood project "Sound of Thunder" and a British project is on."
He hopes that "Krrish" would bring them more work from across the shores.
Himakumar says the South Indian filmmakers are also aware of the advantages.
No generation loss
Digital Intermediate Service (DI) is catching up.
"It works really well with films like `Krrish', where a significant portion of film has visual effects. Here instead of using the traditional analyser (analogue method) the entire film is transferred to computer and colour corrected."
There is no generation loss because the film is transferred to celluloid only once.
"And there is no difference in the colour scheme of the portion having special effects and the rest of the film."
"The awareness, however, is not the only thing. Not many filmmakers can afford Rakesh Roshan kind of budgets," sums up Himakumar
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