Know The Team Behind Cutting-Edge Visual Effects In Brahmastra: New VFX Chapter In Indian Cinema

The first edition of Ayan Mukerji's epic fantasy termed Astraverse is out and it has already started to capture the imagination of the viewers and continues to amaze them post the Friday release.

New Delhi: The much-awaited Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva has finally hit the theatres and the film is as star-studded as it can be. With Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead, another special character in the film is its VFX. While the film has opened to mixed reviews from the audience, the VFX shots have been given a thumbs up.

The man attributed most of the credit for the visual effects is Namit Malhotra, the founder of Prime Focus Limited, chairman and global CEO of a seven-time Oscar-winning company DNEG. He who came on board as a producer and joined the team of renowned studios like Fox Star Studios, Disney, and Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.

Brahmāstra is a trilogy bringing together ancient Indian mythology, spirituality, culture, and modern technology, creating a visual spectacle, the likes of which have never been seen before in the history of Indian cinema. It is the first of its kind to envision a cosmic universe that has been made true to scale through VFX and technology.

The Making Of Brahmāstra VFX And The Team Behind It 

Prime Focus partnered with the creators of Brahmāstra to deliver these innovative visual effects. Inudstry experts opine that this partnership led to Brahmāstra being the first project during the pandemic to extensively use Prime Focus’s incubated technology CLEAR™️ and Media ERP suit, ensuring seamless data transfer of high-quality shots and data security from inception to delivery.

Modern technology has played a massive role in the creation of this adventure fantasy film. The Prime Focus Group has previously delivered 3D Conversion on critically and technically acclaimed movies like Avatar and Gravity. The teams were also entrusted with the task of cloning and mastering the digital assets for regular and IMAX 3D screens, also provided the colour grading (DI) services for the film and this complex task was achieved to blend the fantasy world with the real seamlessly. It all came under the editing of Brahmāstra, which was carried out under the supervision of Prakash Kurup.

Additionally, Brahmāstra was also supported with on-set camera equipment and state-of-the-art sound stages. Jam8, a music and sound design studio led by Pritam, contributed to the sound effects and scores for Brahmāstra.

VFX studios DNEG and ReDefine’s international teams collaborated with the makers to produce the visual effects seen in the shots of Brahmāstra. The same teams have earlier contributed to Oscar-winning movies like Dune, Tenet, Bladerunner 2049, First Man and more. 

In comparison to Avengers: End Game's 2,400 VFX shots, Brahmāstra Part 1: Shiva boasts of over 4,500 VFX shots, making it a potential record holder for the most visual effects in any film globally. The creative and technical teams across London, North America, and India worked in synergy under the guidance of Namit Malhotra, who was involved in the making of this film right from its inception to the final shot.

Expert Opinion About The VFX Of The Movie: 

Asmita Bharati, a senior VFX producer who has worked on numerous Indian and international shows such as Apple TV's Shining Girls, and Vishwaroopam by Kamal Haasan comments on the VFX of the film Brahmāstra "the movie is a source of pride for India, in my opinion as an Indian visual effects producer who works on shows throughout the world! Post-production involves a lot of effort, preparation, execution, overcoming unforeseen obstacles, and other considerations. Many teams with technical and artistic contributions participate. This movie demonstrates my idea that outstanding VFX may be used in Indian cinema. We now have a new standard for Indian films in terms of VFX, and we are not only on par with worldwide VFX-heavy shows. My sincere congratulations go out to the Bramhastra VFX crew."

Makers' Reaction To The Outlook Of Brahmāstra

Ahead of the release of the movie, Ayan Mukerji said: “Brahmastra is very close to my heart. The idea of Brahmastra was ploughed into my mind way before I even realisd it. I grew up listening to the stories of Indian history and mythology and was always fascinated by them. I wanted to create a story that was deeply rooted in Indian spiritual history but also had modern twists and turns. Inspired by many movies that brought fantasy worlds to life, I envisioned creating the world of Brahmastra in a way that would challenge the limits of Indian cinema. Namit and his teams were an integral part of this journey and have worked hard alongside me to bring this adventure film to life. The relentless work of his team and the hard work of the entire team and cast of Brahmastra has allowed us to bring to the audience, a film like never before.”

Brahmastra has been released in five languages — Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu — in both 2D and 3D across the country. The film has been released in over 5,000 screens in India and 3,000 screens internationally.