The dream catcher

Did you know that Hrithiks house in Guzaarish and the tidal wave in Chandni chowk to China wasnt real?

Bollywood has always been about big. Big money, bigger productions, the biggest stars. In an industry obsessed with bluster, with overpriced stars and their PR machines on manic overdrive, we tend to forget that the machinery of magic that we know of as the film industry is equally run by the little people' - ushers who double up as ticket vendors at single theatres, reporters who practically invented the Page 3 format without even realizing it, gym instructors who sculpt superstars battling mid-life crises, rickshaw drivers who invented dhinchaak, the sound that has come to define Bollywood music. Also Starring is our tribute to the foot soldiers of pop culture who stitch together the dazzling quilt we call Bollywood.

The dream catcher By Sayoni Sinha | Yahoo! India Movies

While shooting for Guzaarish, Sanjay Leela Bansali had a tough time making Hrithik's house look authentic in the shots. An old church outside Goa which was turned into his house, looked different in each shots throughout the day. As the sun unpredictably brightened and dimmed each time, the look of the church changed. But the enormous grand house that we see in the film was actually a computer graphics creation, complete with broken windowpanes, the dramatic sky in the backdrop and a CG carpet drying outside. And the person responsible for this transformation was Merzin Tavaria, Co-founder & Chief Creative Director at Prime Focus and his team.

First impressions

Merzin has been at the helm of VFX at Prime Focus since its inception and has played a vital part in growing the company from a garage startup to one of the largest visual entertainment services firms in the world. "I started in advertising and this happened by chance. I was teaching animation in US where Namit Malhotra (CEO of Prime Focus) was my student. We set up an editing studio where the main focus was commercials and TV serials. We started doing color correction and cutting promos for music videos. At that time, the quality of film promos wasnt what it is now and since we had the right exposure, we decided to take it up."

Over the years, visual effects have come to play an important role in the making of a film. What started as a small sub-unit under the action kitty is now a full-fledged division. Earlier, there would be a small number of cable wire removal shot and that was our only contribution in the film. Our work was mostly in the post-production department when the action directors would shoot their sequences and then come to us. Now filmmakers are aware of the ways they can use VFX to achieve their creative vision. Our work starts even before the film goes in the floor, says Merzin. More and more directors are waking up to the economics of it and how VFX can be used to cut cost. "It is much cheaper to create images on a computer screen rather than take an entire film crew to a location and shoot it."

What an idea!

It begins with pencil sketches, colouring and realising concepts (which are open to change in the course of production) and breaking down the scenes which need VFX. The one paragraph brief can have as many as 50 shots. So we sit with the director and plan out each sequence. For example, the Earthquake scene from Kai Po Cheearthquake scene in Kai Po Che had to be planned in advance. "This entire sequence was completely crafted in VFX by adding dust and debris falling in Govind's house, the wall clock shattering, cracks appearing on the wall. The broken and damaged bridge where Govind takes a big leap was also created in 3D, ensuring that a feeling of depth and danger was established. Minute attention is paid to the details to make it look authentic," he says.

This is followed by story-boarding, where a detailed break-down of each scene is done. This helps the director to plan the shoot. Tavaria explains, Details like in which direction the actor should look, where is the tall building in the scene, which direction is the car coming from, etc, need to be explicitly communicated. For example, the jetty fight sequence in Chandni Chowk to China where there is a huge tidal wave shooting out water up to more than 100 feet in the air was the most challenging sequence as it involved particle dynamics. "It was something we had never done before and the results were satisfying."

Devil in details

Tavaria believes that you have to focus a lot on detailing at this stage as this stage of the craft makes or breaks a scene. Earlier the discussion would take place with four pencils and a mobile phone. Now the whole set is made in CG. He also says that most people dont notice the intricate detailing that goes Merzin Tavariainto every scene. We work on a shot for months and you will see it in few seconds! For instance, the opening shot in Guzaarish which has Hrithik Roshan sitting on a wheelchair and trying to flick a fly off of his nose. A lot of research was done to understand the behavioral patterns of a fly, to make it look real. The challenge was to match the animation of the fly to Hrithiks eye movement. The detailing went to the extent of casting the shadow of the fly when it sits on Hrithiks nose.These are things the audience will never notice but if I dont put all this, the emptiness will start showing immediately.

Home connect

In the business of connecting with the audience, there would be elements which would need to be watered-down. "Hollywood has been toying with the genre of science fiction for decades, right from the Star Wars era, so they have evolved. So when we did Total Recall', we had robots flying around and a whole cityscape in CG." But here, this genre is just being established, so films need to connect with what the audiences can relate to. Tavaria explains, If I am too futuristic in any des

LINK:	http://www.primefocusgroup.com/news/2013/06/did-you-know-hrithiks-hous...
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