Colourist Shiva Kumar details his work on Oscar contender RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt)
By Jenny Priestley
Published: December 21, 2022
Colourist Shiva Kumar details his work on Oscar contender RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt)
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) is reported to be the most expensive film ever made in Indian cinema. It tells a fictitious story about two legendary revolutionaries and their journey away from home before they started fighting for their country in the 1920s. It stars two of Telugu cinema's biggest screen idols, Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr.
The film has become a worldwide sensation, so far making $145 million worldwide since its release in March, and has been included on many critics' top 10 films of 2022 lists.
A true collaboration The film was finished at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad and graded on Baselight by colourist Shiva Kumar BVR, who worked closely with well-known cinematographer, K.K. Senthil Kumar, to achieve the desired look. The pair have worked together on many occasions, and they have a very similar mindset when it comes to colour.
I have worked with Senthil for almost all projects of mine, says Shiva. We both have a similar line of thinking and vision in finding the same colour density out of millions of colour shades. His vision is so powerful that he can find a minute error and colour jump from a microsecond timed frame. I get a clear idea of what is expected from a detailed discussion with him. Moreover, he does not compromise at any point on quality.
Shiva Kumar Shiva was involved in the film process early on, in the scripting stage, when he began working on the look of the film with Senthil. Senthil narrated the story before going to shoot and we exchanged some references in relation to colour palette, lighting scheme and mood boards to meet the required looks in post, adds Shiva.
The workaholic nature of Senthil is the secret behind getting extensive quality in every frame. His motivation brings us out of the pressure of work and keeps our efficiency healthy throughout.
Creating an organic period look The film is set in the early 1900s and Senthil and Shiva worked closely to achieve a look and tone that suited this period. Shiva would take one close-up shot, one mid and one wide-angle from a particular sequence, and then work to achieve the pre-selected look.
I am against the usage of LUTs because it decays the organic feel, explains Shiva. Using Baselight's Colour Crosstalk and Colour Mix tools in combination with the Hue Angle tool, we achieved the early 1900s look along with the specified organic feel. And using the Diffuse and Texture features allowed me to create a wonderful, classic and glossy diffused sharpness.
For each sequence we would give four to five look options to the cinematographer, he adds. Out of those options, he would choose one palette. We would then create a separate new look out of all the other reference layers in which 50-70 per cent would be successful towards getting a new look. Once finalised, we would apply the same look for the entire sequence, and then it would go for final approval.
The two main characters in the film represent two opposing elements - Ram Charan's character represents fire, while N.T. Rama Rao Jr. represents water.
In the initial stages, we were successfully able to highlight the separation between fire and water, Shiva continues. Later, we realised that it was going to create confusion for the story and to maintain that separation we highlighted a certain element according to the character's emotion.
If I had to fix a particular tone of a character, Senthil would give me the complete detailed narration, he adds. Senthil is hands down a great narrator. The way he explained the details of the characters and the story prevented us from going towards many references allowing us to achieve it with the character emotions and arc.
VFX challenges Shiva and the team had immense support from the VFX supervisor, Srinivasa Mohan, and the rest of the VFX studios, but - as with any VFX-heavy movie - the film's effects didn't come without challenges.
Colour correcting a normal movie is one challenge, but correcting a CG-orientated film is an entirely different ball game, comments Shiva. Srinivasa always foresees the quality. We consumed approximately 250 hours for the VFX QC. Whenever there were complications, we were able to control the errors by calling the VFX studios and ensuring all were corrected and updated on time.
One of the key VFX challenges was the climax sequence as, due to temperature conditions on location, it was delivered on unbalanced footage with unmatched lighting and exposure.
After placing the VFX on the timeline, we realised the majority of the VFX shots were not matching with the live raw shots, recalls Shiva. By then, we had already finalised the look for the sequence. This is when the real challenge began.
Spending a lot of time tweaking sensitively is too risky, in case of an issue popping up after rendering. I had to maintain both a cool and a golden warm temperature for the entire sequence. With the unbalanced shots, it was very difficult to catch both the blue and the warm tone. Therefore, in order to achieve it successfully, I used a combination of Baselight grading tools to get the exact required look for the entire climax sequence. After repeating the process multiple times, the cinematographer and the VFX supervisor were satisfied.
The cinematography on this film has gained lot of appreciation from the cinema industry all around the world, concludes Shiva. This is a rare achievement and I see it as a proud moment for Indian cinema.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
Colourist Shiva Kumar details his work on Oscar contender RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt)
