The teaser of Ramayana was released on Thursday and quickly became a major talking point online for several reasons, including Ranbir Kapoor’s first look as Rama and the film’s heavy use of VFX. While some viewers praised the visuals of Nitesh Tiwari’s film, others were less impressed, especially given its reported Rs 4,000 crore budget. Several users even claimed that some shots looked like scenes from a PS4 game. Amid the online trolling, Hrithik Roshan shared his views on VFX in a 600-word Instagram post, where he also came out in support of the film’s visuals.
Hrithik Roshan’s 600-Word Instagram Post
The 52-year-old actor acknowledged that bad VFX do exist and admitted they can sometimes be painful to watch. Recalling his childhood fascination with special effects, he wrote, “Yes bad VFX exists. It's sometimes so bad it's painful to watch. Especially for me... and especially when it's a film I'm part of. As an 11yr old kid I saw Back to the Future on a trip to london and it changed me forever. I became obsessed. I would sit with my dads VHS player studying the frames pause -play pause-play until I broke the player.”
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Hrithik added that he would often order books about special effects to learn more about the craft and defended films that attempt large-scale visual storytelling. “Today some special humans among us, like the makers of films like Kalki, Bahubali, Ramayana, ( also my dad for koi mil gaya n krrish ofcourse) are my heroes, they have the guts and vision to do what's never been done - all for the love of cinema so that we - the audience get to experience something never watched before.”
He further said that filmmakers often risk huge budgets and years of effort to create unforgettable cinematic experiences. “From my point of view they risked all that money, and years and years of effort just so another 11yr old kid could feel what I felt. To me that's noble. The intention by itself deserves applause! I am proud of my fellow Indians. What I would give to be a part of such dreams even as an assistant.”
The actor added that audiences are absolutely free to criticise or debate VFX, but they should do so with greater awareness and respect for the effort behind it.
‘Some Prefer Anime, Some Spider-Man’
He continued his note in the comments section, and explained that filmmakers use different styles of VFX depending on the story they want to tell. “In my little understanding from the little that I have learnt is that there are different VFX styles adopted by makers to bring their vision to life. It's like in comics or animation - some prefer ANIME style but that's not as realistic as spider man-into the spider verse. You can like one style over the other but neither is wrong.”
He further elaborated with examples. “In the same way VFX movies can be Photorealistic (Invisible ) VFx where you shouldn’t notice the VFX at all. Like in big scale action films like James Bond, Die hard , War 1 etc OR the makers can adopt storytelling stylised VFX which is more magical with sometimes enhanced colors, Non-realistic lighting , visuals that purposefully resemble beautiful paintings. Like in movies like 300 , lord of the rings, etc....Then there are others like Hyperreal/Enhanced Reality - think Superhero films and high concept films like inception...Fantastical Realism (Hybrid).”
Hrithik added that he personally enjoys experimental VFX that intentionally break “reality and logic” and feature abstract forms and impossible geometry.
He concluded his note by urging audiences to judge films more fairly. “AND you can’t criticize the maker just cause he has chosen one style while you prefer another style. Thats not fair. So sometimes when you say ‘bad VFX’. Maybe it’s just a style you didn’t expect?... Debate it. But debate it with awareness.”
About Ramayana
The film’s first part is slated for a Diwali release this year, and second part will hit theatres next year. The film’s combined runtime will be of six hours and will see Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Lord Parshuram - both avatars of Lord Vishnu. The film also stars Yash as Ravana, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Ravi Dubey and Lakshman and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman. Legendary composer Hans Zimmer joins AR Rahman for the music score.