This is undoubtedly the classic case of how technology saved the day for actor Jimmy Shergill’s upcoming film Veerey Ki Wedding.
‘Veerey Ki Wedding’ initially featured popular actor Jimmy Shergill and Punjabi actress Diljott who was making her Bollywood debut with the film. However she had to leave the movie as a last-ditch attempt to make the project more saleable. Though Jimmy stays on board, actress Diljott will be replaced by telly actress Payal Rajput, best remembered for her outing in the show, Sapnon Se Bhare Naina using VFX.
Replacements are quite common these days in Bollywood and it is costly to re-shoot them hence VFX plays a major role in saving the producer’s pocket. Director Ashu Trikha confirmed that the scenes featuring Diljott, including a lavish song sequence which was shot in Manali, will be superimposed with Rajput’s face via VFX.
The VFX superimposition of faces is a very useful technique used in movies. In this, the new actor enacts the whole scene with the green screen background in front of the camera. Then the whole footage covering mostly the face is taken and superimposed over the earlier shot scene with another actor who is to be replaced. Then follows an editing process on the computer screen using various VFX methods and software. Various stunt scenes are also done in this manner.You can check the video below showing a clip from the film ‘Braveheart’ for knowing more about this process of superimposition.
The whole incident triggers our memory to the age old debate of man versus machines.The cost incurred in applying VFX is no doubt very economical compared to the exorbitant fees actors charge these days. Who knows, there might be days in future when actors will have to stop throwing tantrums as well as charging astronomical figures, if technology replaces them with even better techniques. Then, the VFX supervisor might become the richest and most powerful person and the actor just a mute puppet in the whole process.
