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Makarand Surte was part of the foundation team of RedChillies.Colour at the start of 2017, an initiative of Redchillies.VFX in Mumbai. He has worked on many productions both before and since, including the short film Adnyat, which won the National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film Cinematography in India.
Tell us a little about Redchillies. Colour and how you differentiate yourselves in the marketplace?
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Redchillies is a household name now, a conversation starter. The minute I say I'm with Redchillies, everyone stops whatever they're doing and asks me, How is SRK (Bollywood actor and producer Shah Rukh Khan) I guess that's one of the great ways we differentiate ourselves.
So it was in 2016, when Fan the movie had just been released when my coworker and friend Ken Metzker and I were approached by Keitan and Harry, CEO and CCO of Redchillies.VFX, who suggested the possibility of having a colour grading setup for Redchillies. This was a great collaboration opportunity for our clients and us. And that is how it all started for Redchillies.Colour. We were able to move with the majority of our team from Reliance MediaWorks so we have been able to fly right out of the gate.
Our quality, involvement with our clients, understanding of the directors' requirements as well as our vision is what our colourists are known for. Building a good rapport as well as delivering our projects on time; that's how we really set ourselves apart.
Can you describe your colour and VFX services?
Redchillies.VFX has been in the VFX business for 12 years now; we're embarking on our thirteenth year on 1 April 2018. We started the VFX division in 2006 with an eight-member team and have expanded to over 400 employees and worked on 35 movies, including two Hollywood and two Chinese productions. Our VFX services include: On Set Visual Effects, Concept Art, Previs, 3D Assets, 3D Animation, Crowds, Creatures, Matte Painting, CG Environment, CG Effects, Compositing, BG Preps, and Digital De-aging.
RedChillies.Colour was born in January 2017, and we moved into our new state-of-the-art facility in May of that year. We had a very keen and fantastic team ready to join us. Our aim was to provide a fully-fledged post-production service to the fraternity along with our International VFX division.
We have graded over 22 movies, in regional languages as well as for Bollywood. We offer services like Digital Colour Grading Features, Trailers & TV Spots, Editorial & Conforming, ACES workflow, Digital Cinema Mastering & KDM Delivery, Digital Mastering for 4K UHD & OTT Content, On Set Services DIT & Dailies.
Do you and Redchillies' VFX team work together sometimes?
Yes, very much. Once we have signed on a script, we sit and discuss the movie theme so I can understand the tones, the background and the storyline, which helps me in my colour grading process. Whilst the project is still being graded, the VFX team and supervisor sit with us in the grading theatre and give their input too. Here, it's important to mention teamwork and acknowledgement as well as respecting one another. That is how I have always maintained my work relations with clients as well as team members.
How did your journey in post happen?
I have an engineering background so after my studies (about 20 years ago) I joined Crest Communications. There I was an intern, helping them with scanning and assisting colourists in odd jobs. I observed a lot and tried to understand the techniques used, as being a colourist is a complete on-the-job-learning role. I even assisted senior colourist Wayne Tyson at Prasad Lab (Efx) at a meagre salary of approx. 25 pounds a month. This is when my boss at the time told me, if you can learn it in your own time, you can become a colourist. I guess that's what motivated me to learn and how my journey into the world of grading started.
How do you use Baselight on a daily basis?
I use Baselight every day to grade feature films in India.
Baselight makes my life so easy, particularly Hue Angle, which helps in separating skin tones of the actors and also enhancing their face structures. In short, Baselight can be compared to a small tank loaded with weapons, each having their unique qualities.
What do your clients like most about Baselight?
I don't want to get too technical here regarding formats and resolutions, but since Baselight is known for its speed of work and its intuitiveness to colour grading, it helps me work faster to achieve the colour aesthetics that both my clients and I want.
Could you describe a recent project completed in colour and what Baselight tools were particularly beneficial?
I've worked on almost 50 projects on Baselight, but the most recent one is a suspense thriller called Ittefaq. It's set against a rainy night in the city of Mumbai across three days and with two consecutive stories. I had to capture this, and used a lot of grey and dark tones. The DoP, Michal Luka, and I had to ensure we portrayed this thriller with the use of colours and hues. Thus, Baselight tools helped in getting the image to the right point, and swiftly.
Another movie I recently enjoyed working on was Furkey Returns, a sequel to a slapstick comedy shot by DoP Andre Menenzes. This movie was the exact opposite to Ittefaq as this played on a lot of vibrant colours and, of course, our world famous Bollywood songs.
How is your working style?
I like to understand the director as well as the DoP's vision. What is it that they actually want to achieve from the movie? I also aim to do justice to the storytelling.
What are the biggest challenges you face today as a colourist in India?
India is a country of colour, festivals, laughter and mirth, all of which is expressed very well with the use of different and vibrant c
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