TOI:VFX pep up prime-time in a big way!

Be it a naagin taking revenge, the lords descending on Earth or screeching noises and faces smeared with blood and soot telling a chilling horror story, special visual effects have added much lather to the frothy telly soaps. Technology has made its presence felt on the small screen and the audiences seem to be loving it in the comforts of their living room

Remember those battle scenes in serials like 'Ramayana', 'Mahabharat' and 'Chandrakanta' in the good old Doordarshan days that grabbed much eyeballs thanks to their special effects? And now the uber cool, sleek technological advancements have brought a lot more to the table. Taking inspirations from various Hollywood movies and English television shows our show-makers are now experimenting a lot more by playing up creative story-lines with scenes that are absolute drool worthy.

Be it daily soaps that have a sci-fi connect such as 'Bahu_Hamari_Rajni_Kant' and 'Badi Dooor Se Aaye Hain', costume dramas like 'Siya Ke Ram', 'Ashoka', 'Baalveer' including VFX for fight sequences or to add grandeur to the show or mythological shows like 'Santoshi Maa', 'Mann Me Vishwas Hai' and 'Bhakti Mein Shakti' inducing some special visual imagery to show the 'miracle moments,' VFX have become integral for taking the story forward. Not just that, even shows with a supernatural connect such as 'Sasural Simar Ka', 'Adhuri Hamari Kahani', 'Naagin', 'Vishkanya', 'Baalveer', 'Ye Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum' et al too are putting up sequences that involve VFX.

How difficult is it for makers to manage a show that includes VFX? Yash A Patnaik, whose upcoming superhero show 'Nagarjun' is full on VFX shares, "We had to create a world people haven't seen before along with characters beyond the ordinary. That's the reason we needed a lot of VFX. The quality of VFX is of high standard. It's not easy to have so much of VFX. Months of planning goes behind this. Any show that is larger than life will require VFX support and it is expensive. It needs a lot of man power and technology in terms of software and hardware. There are over 60 people working 24*7 for the VFX. We are spending almost 12-14% of our production budget on VFX."