The VFX and Animation arm of Reliance MediaWorks, the media and techno-creative solutions provider and a part of the Reliance Group recently a
ssociated with Rajshri Productions for its recently released thriller Samrat & Co.
Starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Madalsa Sharma, the Hindi detective thriller is set in a huge estate in Shimla. However, due to extensive logistics and lack of the perfect set, the crew decided to shoot at film city in Mumbai thereby assigning the task of the creation of a castle in the middle of the hills of a snow clad Shimla to Reliance MediaWorks’ VFX head Prasad Sutar.
Rajshri Productions producer Kavita Barjatya said in a statement: “We are extremely glad to have partnered with RMW. The meticulous planning and delivery system at RMW ensured the minutest details were looked into. We are thankful to the entire team, for helping translate our vision onto the silver screen.”
Director Kaushik Ghatak added: “Samrat & Co. as a story takes place in a setup that was quite difficult to create. We extensively searched for the perfect locations across northern India, but couldn’t get the right location, and also the story panned over a period of different seasons. To get the right look across different seasons was a Herculean task. Thanks to the use of technology, we were able to recreate the entire setup of the film so well. Thanks to Prasad and his team at Reliance MediaWorks that this dream was achieved.”
Samrat & Co. is one of the first mainstream Indian films that has extensively employed the usage of VFX technology to a large extent. Unlike the usual set extensions, where 15-20 per cent of the sets are created using VFX, the feature has used over 70 per cent set extension technology to create the visual wonders of the film.
Reliance MediaWorks CEO Venkatesh Roddam said: “It has been our constant endeavor to leverage our VFX expertise to help simplify the production process. Our unique team of experts has helped recreate the scenes in a virtual format thereby helping minimise the effort, time and associated costs of reproducing the shots in an outdoor location.”
To capture and replicate the director’s vision on the silver screen, the team at RMW worked on over 1,200 to 1,400 shots in addition to for the very first time in Bollywood creating the entire estate located in snowy mountainous regions, with the support of VFX. RMW has handled the entire visual postproduction of the film, including color grading, digital mastering and visual effects.
The team achieved this feat by seamlessly integrating multidisciplinary skills to amplify the visuals in a completely realistic and believable manner.
“Post the initial script narration, we held detailed discussions with the team to ensure that each shot was meticulously recreated in the film,” said Prasad.
Reliance MediaWorks has demonstrated a vast array of visual effect solutions ranging from the day to night transition, wherein the protagonist Samrat is studying the corpse of Hari who gets mysteriously murdered to the mesmerizing location of the song ‘Shukar Tera.’
Commenting on the scope of the work, Reliance MediaWorks VP operations and film post services Nishit Shetty said: “We are honoured to be associated once again with Rajshri Productions, which is one of the most respected and highly acclaimed production houses. This project is one of our larger VFX projects that has helped us showcase our cutting edge capabilities in the VFX domain.”