Hats off to Shahrukh and Anubhav: Vamsi Ayyagari

How was the experience on the sets of Ra.One?

It was fantastic experience as we had to recreate entire futuristic yet believable environments for two different sequences (Level One and Level Two). The concepts were driven by imagination but the work had to be convincingly real. It was great to have played an important role in the movie that has raised the bar of VFX in India. It was also a very collaborative process and we enjoyed working very closely with the lead VFX house.

What was your biggest challenge on the shots?

For level 1, we had to combine 12 different shots to produce one master CG shot – where the entire environment was created in CG. This is the shot where the camera tracks up, goes outside the exposition and you see the futuristic Mumbai city. Keep in mind – the Mumbai you see while looking real is actually a figment of our creation.

For level three, the concept changed after the shoot. Hence we worked very hard to build a scale, replace large parts of live shoot elements with CG sets and above all ensure the actors fitted seamlessly into the photo-real CG world. Making Virtual Real was the greatest challenge.

As an audience, I enjoyed watching the movie and I really don"t allow myself to be bothered by criticism.

What would you like to tell about Shahrukh Khan and Anubhav Sinha?

Ra.One has set new standard in filmmaking and raised the bar of visual effects to the next level. One has to lower their hats to Shahrukh Khan, Anubhav Sinha and EROS International for their vision and making this movie.

How many shots are there in the movie?

Overall there are some 3,500 odd shots. We worked on about 500 shots.

Did your work for Ra.One fetch you any offers?

We have been working on international projects for the last two years. Our international credits include Tron Legacy, Moby Dick and 3 other shows which are currently under production.

With the movie Ra.One the importance of visual effects have been well understood by the Indian filmmakers, do you think that visual effects will be more actively used in the Indian films in future?

Visual effects have been actively used in the Indian films. Other than Ra.One, our work was widely appreciated on Tron Legacy, Madrasapattinam and Deiva Thirumagal. For Deiva Thirumagal, our studio created a benchmark and history in India, as this is the first time an entire sequence was shot against the green screen and we recreated all creatures and environments. I am sure that Indian filmmakers will be inspired to use visual effects to advocate new ways of storytelling.