Ayan Mukerji: Envisioned ‘Brahmastra’ in a way that would challenge limits of Indian cinema

Mumbai:  Filmmaker Ayan Mukerji, whose latest release is ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’, said that he envisioned the film in away that would challenge limits of Indian cinema.

Mukerji said: “The idea of Brahmastra was ploughed into my mind way before I even realised 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.”

An ambitious story by Mukerji along with a diverse pool of talent, the benchmark was set high enough to represent Indian films at a global level. To help achieve this, Namit Malhotra, Founder of Prime Focus Limited, Chairman and Global CEO of a seven-time Oscar-winning company DNEG came on board as a Producer and joined the team of renowned studios like Fox Star Studios, Disney and celebrated producer Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.

It is the first of its kind to envision a cosmic universe that has been made true to scale through the lens of VFX and Technology.

The makers of Brahmastra roped in the talented teams of Prime Focus Group that delivered 3D Conversion on critically and technically acclaimed movies like Avatar and Gravity. Prime Focus teams were also entrusted with the task of cloning and mastering of the digital assets for regular and IMAX 3D screens.

The PF group 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. The editing of Brahmastra was under the supervision by PF’s very own co-founder, Prakash Kurup.

Additionally, Brahmastra was also supported with On-set Camera Equipments and state of the art sound stages. Jam8, a music and sound design studio led by Pritam in partnership with Prime Focus contributed to the epic sound effects and scores for Brahmastra that are sure to tantalise the viewing experience.

With a proven track record of 25 years in media integrated solutions, Prime Focus’ renowned VFX studios DNEG and ReDefine’s global teams collaborated with the makers to produce the magnificent visual effects that we see today in the shots of Brahmastra.

The same teams from DNEG have also contributed to Oscar-winning movies like Dune, Tenet, Bladerunner 2049, First Man & more. This massive feat was achieved by over 3000 artists from the Prime Focus group over the period of the last four years.

‘Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva’ boasts over 4500 VFX shots, making it a potential record holder for the most visual effects in any film globally.

Namit Malhotra, Producer of ‘Brahmastra’, said: “From editing small budget projects to delivering Oscar worthy cinematic experiences, it’s been quite a long and rewarding journey for us. All these experiences over the past 25 years combined with technological and VFX advancements have helped us bring Ayan’s vision, Brahmastra to life – our biggest Indian project to date.”

“This couldn’t have been achieved without the unabating hard work from teams across Prime Focus, DNEG, and ReDefine. Today, I am truly proud of the work we have done with Brahmastra and I hope it sets a benchmark and inspires many filmmakers and artists to push the envelope.”

–IANS