Panoramic grandeur

This film boasts of two firsts. Dharamveer Sambhajiraje will depict the life of Maratha king Sambhaji Raje. And,in a bid to ensure that the treatment is as grand as the subject,the makers will be using the Panavision camera for the filming process,an entirely new concept in Marathi cinema. Even in technologically fast-paced Bollywood,only three films ( Dharamveer ,Qurbani and Sholay ) have been shot with Panavision. “This is the only camera in the country and the biggest one in the world,” says Rakesh Duglag,who will be directing the Hindi version of the film.

Like Mani Ratnam’s Raavan,this film will be shot simultaneously in the two languages. Starring Jackie Shroff,Mrunal Kulkarni,Mohan Joshi and Bharat Dabholkar,the period film will deal with the life and times of the troubled Maratha ruler,who tried to keep up his reign amidst battles against the Mughals. While the Hindi version is slated for a national release in June,the Marathi version will see a release only in Maharashtra. The lavish budget of Rs 12 crore is the highest ever for a Marathi film. “The only other Marathi film with a high budget was Mi Chattrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosale Boltoye. It had a three crore budget,” Duglag shares.

Using Panavision cameras is a costly affair. And that’s one of the reasons why it isn’t widely used in Marathi or even Hindi films. “The large format films that are used to make movies using these cameras are substantially expensive. The Marathi film industry is still in a stage of revival. Thus,this new technique is yet to enter the filming process. Also,hiring these cameras poses a problem. Currently,there is only one company in the country that gives the equipment on lease,” informs associate director Dilip Ambekar.

Panavision has been supplying some of the best known motion picture cameras and lenses in Hollywood,right from the time when MGM commissioned the wide screen filming process that led to the birth of the 65mm film. The main difference between other film cameras and Panavision ones is the clarity. “However,techniques differ in the way the lens is mounted,the way the film is shot and also how the film is reverse projected in order to obtain a more dense picture format in the same frame,” Duglag adds.