VFX supervisors Yashoda Parthasarthy and Vijesh Rajan, known for their work on ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Farzi’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, have come out in support of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ‘Ramayana’ amid growing online criticism of its visual effects. The duo believes the film deserves backing because it could help Indian cinema reach a wider global audience.
Vijesh Rajan on dreaming of a film like ‘Ramayana’
In a chat with Hindustan Times, the two spoke about the effort that goes into making visual effects look photorealistic. They also echoed actor and co-producer Yash’s view that films like ‘Ramayana’ must be supported. Vijesh Rajan said, “When I was doing my MA in Film in Australia, my thesis idea was whether an epic like Ramayana or Mahabharata could be made on the scale of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ or ‘Chronicles of Narnia’. I’ve always dreamt of a film like this being made. As an Indian audience, we should support such endeavours. Other than ‘Toxic’, I don’t think a film has gotten this wide release. It’s mounted on a massive budget and is being released globally on an unprecedented scale with collaborations from Hans Zimmer, AR Rahman, and top technicians.”
Vijesh Rajan says, ‘There is some sort of campaign against the film’
Vijesh Rajan agreed that criticism is necessary but felt that trolling and nasty comments can leave filmmakers with a bad taste. He said, “It is a project we should back regardless of flaws; we should discuss the flaws, but there is a way in which people speak, and that can be off-putting to a lot of filmmakers. There is a lot of trolling, and there is some sort of campaign against the film, and I feel like, why? We should support any endeavour that is mounted on this scale. It will only open doors for other Indian filmmakers to reach the international audience, and that is a huge step.”
Yashoda Parthasarthy on comparisons with Marvel films
Yashoda Parthasarthy, who has also worked on ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’ and ‘Ghoul’, spoke about how much work goes into creating realistic effects. She said, “Having worked in visual effects and motion design, I remember when I was studying and 3D animation was such a difficult process in itself, and in the past decade, it has evolved a lot. But having said that, there is a lot of work that goes into making anything photoreal and people compare our films to Marvel or Avengers movies, which have 10x the budget that we have.”She added, “There’s a lack of research, empathy, and understanding of how visual effects work. We don’t support art and design, and when statements are thrown, it is a little heartbreaking because those 10,000 people have worked on it. So, definitely need to support films like ‘Ramayana’. Also, not everybody can animate; if they did, then everybody would be an expert. Let’s be a little more empathetic.”Both supervisors stressed that discussing flaws is fair, but empathy for the artists matters. Yashoda pointed to the thousands of people who worked on the film, while Vijesh said that backing a project of this scale could be a big step forward for Indian filmmakers.
About ‘Aakhri Ride’
The duo’s latest short film, ‘Aakhri Ride’, stars Chandan Roy and Aamir Dalvi, with Faisal Malik in an interesting role. It is presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala and produced by Ranjan Singh, Vishesh Agrawal, Rajan EPK and Anurag. The short will release on the YouTube channel Oh Short Flips, curated by Anurag, on Halloween, October 31.
