Indian cinema is getting hi-tech, as Hollywood increasingly influences its themes and plots away from traditional love stories and towards spectacular superheroes and fantasy.
Directors are turning to special effects to woo younger, more upwardly mobile and middle class fans, spawning home-grown computer-generated imagery (CGI) firms and tie-ups with established figures in the United States.
Indian audiences are very much exposed to Hollywood films and they draw parallels with our cinema when it comes to visual effects, said Rakesh Rohan, who produced and directed the 2006 science fiction film Krrish.
So, here we want to prove that Bollywood is no longer less than Hollywood.
Krrish, which cost nearly $9 million to make, draws much from the 1978 blockbuster Superman. It raked in $33 million worldwide and was one of the biggest grossing Bollywood films that year.
To take a big risk is better than making a common film, said Rohan. Indian audiences don t want to see the same wedding scenes all the time. They want something new and we have to give it to them.
The latest film to follow the trend for special effects is Drona (Savior), which is released worldwide on Oct. 2, starring mother and son Jaya and Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and Kay Kay Menon.
The film s producers bill it as a modern fantasy fable of the clash between good and evil in a world of mythic heroes and harmful magicians. To do so, they brought in Hollywood special effects expert Charles Darby.
Darby is known for his matte painting technique in a digital format and among his credits are James Cameron s Oscar-winning Titanic, Ang Lee s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Luc Besson s The Fifth Element.
Drona has been two years in the making, with director Goldie Behl delaying its release to make sure the special effects were just right.
We wanted to give the best shot and therefore we got delayed, he said. This film is on the lines of Harry Potter and Indiana Jones and therefore it took almost 10 months of delay because of visual effects.
Indian audiences are more mature and you have to give them something more. If you see Drona on the big screen it will be a treat to watch.
Bollywood hero Shahrukh Khan has got in on the demand for special effects, setting up a division of his production and distribution company Red Chillies Entertainment for that purpose.
The venture proved lucrative in his film 2007 Om Shanti Om. The film is thought to have made $44 million at the box office, making it one of Bollywood s biggest ever hits.
The mode of entertainment is changing and we really don t know what the future will be, said Khan. Tomorrow, mobile phone may be the biggest platform of entertainment.
At this time I feel India s entertainment industry is booming and many Hollywood companies are looking for production services over here. So, I feel it is a good time to cater to them with VFX (special effects) facilities.
More than a dozen Indian companies are now catering for the trend.
In February 2008, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, using a team of Indian digital artists from California-based Rhythm and Hues.
Darby has also linked up with another Indian production and distribution firm, Eros Entertainment, to found the Mumbai-based EyeQube with the aim of creating a world-class special effects facility in India.
A visual treat is what makes a film in Hollywood a good grosser, he said in a recent lecture on the subject. The real star of the film is the film itself.
And of course if there is a good script then it is surely going to be success. -AFP
