Meet Namit Malhotra, the man behind VFX and animation in Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt film Brahmastra

The Hindi film industry has evolved over time and the most prominent change that we’ve witnessed is the use of VFX and animation to enhance the films. Bollywood films use special effects to achieve believable scenes and thrills. On an average, a big budget Bollywood film uses anywhere between 500 to 1500 VFX shots. Namit Malhotra, founder Prime Focus is the man behind many such films. “With the increasing demand for quality content being consumed by the audience here in India, the onus lies with the filmmakers to up their game in terms of VFX to what’s being produced on the global scale,” he says. What is Prime Focus? It’s the tech-enabled visual effects company which originated in a garage in Mumbai in the 90s and has now become the world’s foremost leader in the VFX & Animation space. Namit on Brahmastra: “With projects like Brahmastra, we are positive that it’ll completely transform the expectations of our audience in terms of visual storytelling and create a benchmark for filmmakers across platforms. Our ReDefine VFX teams have also contributed to groundbreaking creature work for RRR on a scale that’s never been seen before.” About Brahmastra: The first part of Brahmastra, starring Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Singh in pivotal role will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. According to director Ayan Mukerji, the film is mounted on a humongous budget and the team worked hard to get its VFX, action set pieces right but would not call it a “superhero” project. “I know the term superhero gets used with the film a lot, because it is sort of in that genre. But in my mind, it is not a superhero film. It is a fantasy adventure epic. It is a modern mythology piece. Shiva is closer to a modern representation of a deva than a western superhero. He is a normal guy who is born with a certain energy within him,” the director said. Evolution of VFX in India: Namit says, “The evolution of VFX in India and our work with these powerful filmmakers have truly enabled us to dream big and achieve big with our ongoing projects. DNEG’s technology stack demonstrates 20 years of innovation and excellence coupled with a stronghold in our R&D capacity, drawing Bollywood’s top filmmakers towards DNEG’s passion for enabling the creative process and bringing their vision to life.” All the projects: Current and upcoming DNEG projects on behalf of its Hollywood and global studio and production company partners include Uncharted (February 2022), Death on the Nile (February 2022), Moonfall (February 2022), Borderlands (2022), Stranger Things S4 (2022), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2022), Knives Out 2 (2022), The Last of Us (2022), The Flash (2022), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023).