Unlike a lot of fantasy films Bollywood has attempted in the recent past, Aladin’s world comes across as a blend of real and fantasy elements. How did you achieve that?
The brief that we had for Aladin was that it had to be believable. Of course it had to be set in a place so beautiful that audiences would want to get transported, but not a place as imaginary as that in Lord Of The Rings. Even otherwise, I believe in basing each project on reality so that there is an anchor to the fantasy elements being created. When it comes to India, I like Rajasthani architecture and the sandstones of Jaisalmer. While incorporating that, the story also required to be set in chilly weather. And so we had a town on top of a mountain somewhere in Northern India. The concept of towns atop hills is quite popular in the Italian countryside and so we also blended that style in our sets.
How challenging was it to create 1600 VFX shots in a year’s time with a team of 200?
I must say it was very challenging. It is not just about 1600 VFX shots but it is about all of them being complex shots. VFX could also mean wire removals and colour corrections but that’s not what we did. Aladin’s VFX quality is something never attempted before in Indian cinema. Adding to it was the fact that nobody from the team had earlier worked on a project of this stature. In fact, back in Hollywood, much larger teams are deployed to work even on projects with lesser shots. For instance, Wolverine, which had about 1000 VFX shots had 17 companies working on it! If you compare the numbers, you will realise what challenge we underwent.
How did you train the team at Eyeqube?
Initally, it was all about unlearning most of the things that had learnt in their careers so far. They all came from different backgrounds, be it television shows, video games and so on. Also, in India, animation is associated with too many movements and it’s almost like a puppet show. Perhaps on television this works well, but when it comes to the big screen, each little movement is magnified. Subtlety is the key here.
Could you explain with an example?
Take for instance this magic frog who is Aladin’s friend in the film. Now he has been turned into a frog from a guitar. And so while he is lime-green, he has ears that resemble a guitar’s tuning keys. While that is the fantasy bit, the believable part is that you can see the skin on the side of his body going up and down as he breathes. When he gets upset, he may push back a bit into his seat or his ears may droop slightly.
Apart from animation, what are the areas of VFX that you term as the film’s high point?
Most of the shots that you see in the film are computer-generated (CG) and include all the steps involved in VFX, be it modelling, rendering or animation. Apart from cityscapes and magic-related special effects, we have done digital stunt doubles for the film.
Digital stunt doubles? Could you elaborate on that one?
Well, there are certain action sequences that were too dangerous to attempt in real. And I hate cable stunts because the result it what I call the windmill fall. Even though the wires are removed digitally during post-production, the fall’s set pattern is evident on the screen. After ten seconds, the audience is just waiting for the person to land rather than getting engaged and worrying for him. For the one-car road sequence that sees Dutt’s truck explode, we digitally created the characters of Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt and the little Aladin and then animated those in the CG backdrop, including the snow-capped peaks and the avalanche. Except for the shot where things began to fall and their landing scene, everything has been shot on the computer. It also allowed us all- area (digital) camera access.
Did you opt for Motion Capture for the digital stunt doubles’ moves?
No, we purely depended on hand animation. There has been no use of Motion Capture throughout the film.
What were the shortcomings you faced in terms of software and machinery resources?
What computer you render on and what software you use to design doesn’t really matter. To me, what matters are the artistes, the quality of the work and the ability to take a hundred decisions during the process that makes the output look believable. It is the same case as that of a pencil which is of no use unless someone creates something meaningful with it. IT for the sake of it is quite boring.
What convinced you to take up Eros’ offer of building a VFX facility in India from scratch and kickstarting its operations with a fantasy film?
The scale of the film interested me; it offered the opportunity to create a beautiful canvas and tell a story that could bring a smile to the audience. It was more than a post-production VFX job and that is what I love to do. I could have taken the work back either to Los Angeles or London but there are two factors that did not allow this - the cost and the opportunity to make a long-term difference. Setting up the facility in India and working with local artistes has resulted in an Indian product that the VFX fraternity in the country can be proud of. It has also set the ball rolling for a lot of Indian filmmakers to consider what VFX can lend to a film if it is not treated as a post-production ritual.
