~Ashish Sharma~New show Discussion Thread#9 - Page 76

Who would have believed that visual effects shall go onto become an integral part of shows on the small screen, till a few years ago; but thanks to show creators and visionaries like Triangle Production's Nikhil Sinha this is now a reality.

Having made visually enigmatic shows for various broadcasters in the past like: Devo ke Dev Mahadev(Life OK!), Hatim (Life OK!), Maharakshak Aryan (Zee TV) and Mahavir Hanuman (Colors), Nikhil is now working with the numero uno channel in the GEC (Genral Entertainment Channel) space Star Plus on a magnum opus, which will retell the story of Ramayana through the eyes of Sita in Siya Ke Ram'.

But the only reason that Nikhil has been able to think of such outlandish concepts and ideas to work on is because of the confidence he has in one man, Hardik Gajjar, and his team of creative wizards at Vertex Volt.

Vertex Volt is the brainchild of Nikhil and Hardik, which began operations in early 2011. The idea of setting up the VFX outfit was to help create content which would mesmerise and entertain audiences through rich storytelling without having to bother much about the cost of production or scale.

Speaking exclusively to TheGraphicSlate.com, Nikhil expounds: "Working on Mythological shows is always fun and challenging at the same time. And the freedom of creating a scale, or working on a big scale, and setting larger frames is something that gives me a kick."

Giving further insights into the storyline of Siya Ke Ram' Nikhil reveals that this version has never been told before, as most of the earlier adaptations of Ramayana on the small screen were based on the writings of the Tulsi Das's version of the mythology but for the first time Valmiki's version of the mythology will be seen on the small screen through this show.

But, all this couldn't be possible without a team of experienced researchers to deal with the intricate details of the script and sketching out the characters in a different light. Leading the team of 8 researchers is none other than renowned historian Devdutt Pattnaik, including scholars who has done an in-depth research on Sita for 10 years.

So while all this covers the pre-production side of things, let's get into understanding how Vertex Volt is recreating rather rewriting history with Siya Ke Ram', which will premiere on Star Plus beginning 16 November at 8:00 pm replacing Tu Mera Hero'.

"We began fairly early on the project and worked on the pre-production with the director and the creative heads at the channel. We created numerous sketches, storyboards, character designs and concept arts to see how the eventual product will look and feel," expounds Hardik Gajjar, founder and VFX supervisor at Vertex Volt.

He further adds that after the concept and designs were locked the team began work on various matte paintings for the magnificent looking backgrounds along with the 3D department working in tandem. The series, which is yet to begin, has roughly 15 minutes of CG in every episode and will involve loads of visual effects for creating set extensions; crowd multiplication and entirely 3D rendered shots and compositions to give the perfect desired output. The show currently has almost 80 per cent of the 170 man team at Vertex Volt burning the midnight oil and also requiring an upgraded pipeline to deliver the episodes swiftly.

"The 3D aerial shots were some of the most difficult ones which we have done for this show. The most challenging bit is to make these shots look as photorealistic as possible and leaving the viewers spellbound with mesmerising visuals." he expounds. "But the kind of response that we are getting from the first promo has given us the confidence that we are doing the right things and our work is certainly going to be loved by one and all."

What also allows Vertex Volt to experiment with different things on each of the shows that it has worked on till now is the trust and support that the team receives from Nikhil and the channels.

But, what does Hardik have to say on the comparisons being made between the 3D aerial shots of Baahubali's city of Mahishmati and the ones which were seen in the recently released promos by Star Plus. "We have done such aerial shots earlier as well in our previous shows. So, I personally don't see where the comparison can be made. It had to look realistic and grand, and that was all that we had in mind while creating that shot." he responds.

Further sharing his views on how different is it to work on mythological shows as against daily soaps, Hardik explains: "Mythological shows are associated with the sentiments of the audience which we have to consider and showcase accordingly. Shows like Hatim and now Siya Ke Ram are in a completely different league when considering the level of visual effects involved; while just taking the examples of the ones mentioned above, the former is a sci-fi while the latter is based on mythology and the work involved in both is very different. But yes, we understand the genres and have worked on it earlier as well; so we are comfortable dealing with anything now."

"We believe in raising the bar each and every time to give quality output which a challenge even for us within the given amount of time. We always want to deliver the best VFX for the shows that we work on. So even Siya Ke Ram' is very special for us and the response so far is certainly overwhelming," Hardik ends.

The show has been conceptualised by Aniruddh Pathak, who brought Lord Shiva's legend to TV through Mahadev and has renowned writers of the country like, Anand Neelakantan and Subrat Sinha on board as well.

Apart from the Ramoji City where a major chunk of the show will be shot, The cast and crew of the show will also shoot extensively in Lepakshi (Andhra Pradesh), Bhuj (Gujarat), Darjeeling (West Bengal), Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana-Hyderabad and Mumbai. While the crew will also soon be travelling to Sri Lanka to get shots of Ravan's palace and use them as references for the show going forward.

The show that shall air six days a week - with the channel already having plans of doing over 300 episodes in all - the expectations from all stakeholders would be sky high. And boasting a stellar cast and crew, the show runners are confident of delivering to those expectations.

http://www.thegraphicslate.com/vfx-sfx/studios-vfx-sfx/vertex-volt-delivers-high-voltage-vfx-for-star-plus-siya-ke-ram/2015/11