First day of Bengaluru GAFX 2024, India’s premier animation and visual effects event held in the city’s Lalit Ashok was a grandeur. Harping on the focal theme of “Augmented Intelligence: Powering AVGC,” the first day of the event witnessed interesting panels, making-of sessions and insightful discussions involving government officials.
The event began with the customary lamp lighting ceremony in the presence of Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar, Government of India Ministry of Information and Broadcasting joint secretary (films) & National Film Development Corp. (NFDC) interim managing director Prithul Kumar, Karnataka Legislative Assembly minister Rizwan Arshad and other dignitaries. The welcome address was delivered by the Karnataka government Ministry of Electronics, Information Technology – Biotechnology secretary Dr Ekroop Caur and the curtain raiser was carried out by ABAI president Biren Ghose.
“I am pleased to inaugurate this congregation of the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comics (AVGC) industry at the fifth edition of Bengaluru GAFX. Karnataka has long been the torchbearer state in India across technology, innovation, and growth. We are proud to be the pioneers of leading the IT and IT-enabled services industries. Our state, a trailblazer in technology, is proud to lead the nation’s Media & Entertainment sector, contributing 20 per cent to the industry,” said Siddaramaiah. “With over 15,000 professionals and 300 specialised studios, GAFX celebrates Karnataka’s role as a global AVGC hub. With a focus on generating 30,000 jobs by 2028, targeting 80 per cent revenue from exports, the policy rests on six strategic pillars—emphasising skill development, infrastructure, startup empowerment, global market access, incentives, and a “Mobile First” approach.”
Since 2012, Karnataka has been a pioneering force, boasting 139 specialised institutes and digital art eentres, with the Karnataka Centre of Excellence (COE) serving as a unique facility nurturing creative technologists and technicians. Deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar believes that with Artificial Intelligence coming in, amazing things can be done and it can change the way kids learn.
Invest India managing director Nivruti Rai delivered a special address highlighting the booming AVGC industry in the state. She pointed out how India has been focusing on building its digital media over the last 20 years. Today, Indians on an average consume 20 gb of data a month which is the highest in the world. To boost the AVGC sector, she is looking forward to hardware and software innovations.
In his speech Ghose mentioned that GAFX is celebration, connectivity, catapult, convergence, consortium, carburetor, content and creativity. The ABAI secretary RK Chand gave a vote of thanks.
The event witnessed a fireside chat titled “The Indian Video Gaming and Esports Industry” between Axilor Ventures chairman, Infosys co-founder and Infosys Science Foundation president Kris Gopalkrishnan, and JetLine Group of Companies vice chairman & managing director and JetSynthesys founder & CEO Rajan Navani. The discussion delved into the evolution and prospects of gaming, esports, and digital entertainment. The speakers emphasised on the transformative influence of technology, including AI and gamification, extending beyond entertainment to impact sectors like education and healthcare.
For the session titled “Producing Independent Global Animation Films: Presentations from some of the best Animated Feature Films work from studios based in India with a global presence,” the speakers were Mikros Animation creative operations VP Rusty Tracy, Assemblage Entertainment CEO Arjun Madhavan and DNEG Animation executive producer Narendra Deshpande. The key takeaways from the session were the need to maintain a balance between creativity, technology and the commercial aspects of various projects. The speakers pointed out the importance of hard work which is the key to all balances.
Bengaluru GAFX is known for showcasing VFX breakdowns and making-of sessions. The first day witnessed “Making of Blockbuster Leo’s Photoreal Hyena VFX” session conducted by MPC VFX producers Jateen Thakkar and Nimish Shah. Thakkar shared that the hyena sequence schedule was 20 odd days and revealed the challenges they had to face in order to maintain continuity during snowfall scenes.
An interesting session “Great Indian Animation Showcase – The Legend of Hanuman: Go Behind the Scenes of the superhit OTT animated series and meet the makers” was conducted by Graphic India CEO Sharad Devarajan, who had shared a recorded message. Graphic India operations VP Shaik Maqbool and creative EVP Jeevan Kang shared moments from their magnum opus projects. Kang pointed out how their objective was to stick to the original story of the Indian epic. They revealed that they are focused on bringing more projects like The Legend of Hanuman with such relatable characters.
In the session “Delivering Spectacular Animated Features from India,” the team of Mikros Animation showcased the best of its recent work leading to two Oscar nominations in the best animated feature category. Mikros Animation creative director Manoj Menon, operations (feature) creative head Leon Christian, look-dev HOD Kaushik Bose, senior animation supervisor Rubul Das, rigging HOD Immanuel Pradeep Kumar, CG supervisor Babulu P George, lighting and compositing supervisor Parthiban S, producer Mahendra L, texturing supervisor Anju Dev and modeling mid artist Namyashree Rathnakar shared how each department coordinates on different projects and the camaraderie they share with each other.
Apart from animation and VFX, the event has gaming sessions. For the panel discussion on “India and the World: Lessons from Global Gaming Leaders,” the speakers Krafton India CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn, GameDuell (Germany) co-founder Kai Bolik, Mobile Premier League (MPL) co-founder Sai Srinivas K and Karnataka Electronics, IT/BT ministry director Darshan MV spoke about how mobile gaming will increase in a big way in the country besides PC and console gaming. AIGF legal & policy head Dhruv Garg moderated the session.
“Focus more on the revenue you are making rather than the valuation,” said Srinivas K during the discussion. In the next five years, the sheer potential of producing games in India is tremendous and it is important to allow revenue to keep coming and then think of scaling up.
Radiance FX VFX supervisor Nirmal Kumar presented the VFX breakdown of Kannada blockbusters Salaar, Vikranth Rona and gave a special sneak peek of the upcoming film Bagheera. Bagheera’s director Dr Suri was also present as a special guest.
Amar Chitra Katha has evolved over the years from being a comic book publisher to a full-fledged content house. In “The World beyond Comics,” Amar Chitra Katha president and CEO Preeti Vyas and Zebu Studios creative director Veerendra Patil discussed that people not reading these days is a bit of an urban myth. According to Vyas, youngsters have started reading a lot even if it is on any digital platform, which is why ACK has molded itself with changing times despite holding on to its roots.
Another session for the day was “Raising the bar – High End Animated Episodic Productions from India: The gap between High End animated Episodic Production and Feature Productions is reducing every year.” Senior industry leaders like Mikros Animation creative – operations (episodic) head Michael Earnest A, PhilmCGI MD Anand Bhanushali, 88 Pictures animation head Manish Kumar, Redefine CG deputy head Amogh Vaidya and Xentrix Studios assets supervisor Tharuna N participated as speakers. The session was moderated by Zebu’s Patil. The panellists spoke about the importance of training, how they have redefined their pipeline from Maya to Unreal and so on.
The audience was treated to “Masterclass: Building from India for the world” by Mayhem Studios CEO Ojas Vipat and Technicolor India country head Ghose. Vipat showcased a small reel from his upcoming game Underworld Gang Wars. His idea is to create a game that engrosses the players and gives them an immersive experience. Ghose told the audience that this upcoming game has already garnered popularity even before it is published.
With sessions running parallelly in three different tracks at The Lalit Ashok, the first day recorded a whopping footfall of 3500 plus attendees including students, speakers, sponsors and other delegates.
Bengaluru GAFX is being held from 29 to 31 January 2024.
