VFX!

Rang De had a good half-hour of VFX, which took a 20- member crew four months to create. And, even if the au-dience never knew, because the effects were integrated so seamlessly into the 8220;real8221; visuals, most of the big hits of the past couple of years have used CG. In Bunty Aur Babli, the Big B was nowhere near the train when he caught up with Abhishek and Rani; he shot at the studio, the train was added on at the lab. Veer Zara, Salaam Namaste, Swades, Hum Tum, all opted for visual enhancement, and not the cleaning-up variety earlier done during post-produc-tion.

The submarine used in Shyam Benegal8217;s Netaji8212;the U-180 that carries Bose from Germany to Japan8212;was also lab-created.

8220;VFX is no longer an afterthought. Directors now plan for visual effects and spend Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2-3 crore per film to tell the story as creatively as possible,8221; explains Bhaskar Dutt, head, marketing, VCL. For instance, VCL turned day into night in Rang De. 8220;The director was intent on getting a night look for the jeep rides and though it was actually shot in daytime, we used our software tools to put in the lights.8217;8217;

VCL has also done a string of visual effects for Holly-wood films, including XXX2, Sony/MGM8217;s Into the Blue and is wrapping up work on the Omar Sharif/Peter O8217;Toole biblical tale One Night with a King. 8220;The story needed a palace surrounded by hills. The producers filmed at Umaid Bhavan in Jodhpur, and we filled in the background,8221; says Dutt. According to Nasscom, post- production work of US and European film studios being outsourced to India could grow to a staggering 950 million by 2009.

8220;The idea is to support the narrative, and never be in-your- face,8217;8217; insists Dutt. 8220;And it8217;s a misplaced belief that visual effects are always expensive. If you know the right tools to use, they will save you a lot of money,8217;8217; he adds, pointing out that that8217;s exactly what VCL is doing for Dhoom 2. 8220;We have visualised a lot of the action shots before they actually shoot it, so the team can avoid wastage. If you get the timing right for an action se-quence, you save loads of money. On location they will know exactly what to do.8217;8217;

Also in the pipeline, there8217;s theatre actor Feroz Khan8217;s My Father Gandhi and Karan Johar8217;s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. It8217;s the second time Johar is falling back on VCL. When he was watching the rushes of Kal Ho Na Ho8212;it has 42 min-utes of special effects8212;he was dismayed to find Preity Zinta without a dupatta in the song Mahi Ve. He didn8217;t re-shoot. The essential accessory was added on at VCL.