A day in the life of a fantasy maker

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ON THE MANI for his debut!

Gautham, son of Tamil cinema’s veteran star Karthik, has lived in our city and is making his debut with Mani Ratnam’s film

SINDHUJA BALAJI DECCAN CHRONICLE

Pulling off a film coup like this is no easy task, but trust veteran director Mani Ratnam to do so. His upcoming film Kadal will hit the screens next Friday and there are a multitude of reasons to watch out for this flick and one of them is young Gautham Karthik.

Yesteryear star Karthik’s son, a former resident of Bengaluru, is a bundle of nerves before the release.

“It all started with dad getting a call from Mani sir. I was studying in Christ University then and pursuing my final year degree. He chose me to play the role of Thomas, a fisherman.” It seems like Gautham has had the perfect opportunity for a stellar debut — the evergreen trio of Mani Ratnam, AR Rahman and Rajiv Menon makes for a cinematic delight. Not to forget Gautham’s filmy lineage (he is veteran actor R Muthuraman’s grandson), so how did he feel when he landed on set? “I spent my formative years in Ooty. I studied in Hebron School and moved to Bengaluru to continue my studies. I was always kept away from the limelight.” Gautham reveals that he spent most of his childhood with his maternal grandparents. “I’m a very outdoorsy person. I used to camp, trek and do chores in the farmhouse. I even worked as a housekeeping manager at Jungle Hut.” In his spare time, he would show tourists around Continued on take off to Masinagudi to unwind.

G l a m - s h a m and Never the one to stick to routine, Gautham landed in Bengaluru to help launch an adventure sports company but 21 quickly grew bored of it.

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Gautham and Thulasi star in Kadal

A day in the life of a fantasy maker The Moving Picture Company, which is locally based, has worked on the special effects for Hollywood flicks like Life of Pi, Skyfall and Prometheus

AYSWARYA MURTHY DECCAN CHRONICLE

From the outside, the building that houses Moving Picture Company is unremarkable, one of the many littered across the sprawling grounds of ITPL Business Park. But a sense of surrealism sets in as you enter the cavernous depths of their office and there is barely any light save those from the millions of flickering monitors. The whole space is one giant darkroom churning out the visions of

Hollywood’s most ambitious directors. You’d be surprised how many blockbuster fantasy and sci-fi flicks have been rendered and polished to perfection on this very floor, the most recent ones being John Carter, Skyfall, Life of Pi and Prometheus. The latter two have been nominated for the Oscars this year in the special effects category and Akhauri Sinha, managing director, says, “There is eager anticipation, definitely.

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Akhauri, Puja, Prashant and Suresh

Friday 18 Saturday 26February January 2011 2013 25 21

glam-sham ‘On the Mani’ for...

A still from Kadal

Continued from Page 17 “I loved all the time I spent in the city. I used to sing in the college choir and was even a part of a band. We used to play at Opus and Olio,” says Gautham with a hint of nostalgia. “Whenever I get a break, I rush back to Bengaluru.”

When he was signed on the dotted line, little did know the labour involved thereafter. “I was part of a six-month workshop to get into the skin of the character.” Since the story revolves around fishermen, Gautham learnt how to sail, catch fish and even enrolled in the Chennai Yachting Club. “I spent two months with fishermen and their catamarans.” However, nothing could prepare him for the jitters he experienced facing the camera, “My father told me; ‘Be yourself and develop your own style’” Mani Ratnam also gave his father two of his biggest films — Agninakshatram and Mouna Raagam. “When Dad did Agninakshatram, he was around my age. To see Mani Sir mould him was a truly humbling experience. I was blown by Dad’s work in both films,” reveals the youngster.

Though he never spent much time familiarising himself with the ways of the industry, he was touched by how everyone took good care of him. “Arjun Sarja and Arvind Swami treated me like I’m their own son. Arjun Sir gave me good tips on action sequences. Arvind Swami was really helpful in calming my nerves initially.”

Talking more about his coactors, he says, “Thulasi is a pleasure to work with. She is dedicated and takes her job seriously.” Thulasi is yesteryear actress Radha’s daughter.

The film’s music has been creating waves, quite literally! All eyes are on the lead pair Gautham and Thulasi, “I am so nervous now! I hope the film is well-received. I could not have asked for a better launch pad and I’m here to stay.”

Bengaluru Chronicle

A day in the life of a...

Akhauri finishes.

“The massive, horseshoe spaceship from There is a keen sense of pride shaped and we are very aware that we Prometheus — Juggernaut — are in great company. For some- and the teron one working in this line, there is rain the alien really no bigger satisfaction.”

The odds are in their favour p l a n e t and though the atmosphere is The team subdued, Akhauri lets on that an has done “intense celebration” is on the SFX for cards should they win. But with Skyfall as most of the work being done in well their massive, integrated virtual studio that connects their offices in London, Vancouver, New York and Los Angeles, we wonder whether the work really requires passion for movies or would just technical skills suffice. “It’s a misconception that VFX work is all done on computers,” he says. Suresh Hari, one of the heads of department, nods in agreement. “There is a ton of research, reconnaissance and reference gathering that goes into rendering these effects,” he says. “We have to go to the sets, guide them on camera placement, get photos of textures — there is a ton of offline work to be done.” “Unlike animation, we work with live film and add elements to it. So the movie has to be shot keeping this in mind,” Akauri says.

Just knowing the technicalities isn’t enough. The job requires artistic vision, “Without passion, the work might still be good but it will never be great,” Continued from Page 17

was challenging and fun to work on,” says Prashant Nair who heads Assets at MPC. Simulating the vast waters and epic storms in Life of Pi was also something the team can look back at with pride. “The shots were filmed in a water tank, against a blue screen and we created the whole environment and textures, panicked drowning animals and all,” says Puja Parikh.

The technology that memorably came to the forefront with Star Wars, has come a long way since. “For many of us, Star Wars is the reason we got into this profession,” says Akhauri, adding, “It is such a rapidly evolving field and A still from Prometheus we keep inventing better and more impressive ways possibilities of VFX and how it to get things done. MPC and can enhance their stories.”

He remains understandably its contemporaries are constantly pushing the fron- tight-lipped about future projects and wouldn’t let anytiers of this technology,” thing out when asked if he says proudly. they might be What does he involved in the think about the special effects Many young upcoming Star Wars movie. So scene in India? directors we ask the team “I wouldn’t say understand how to name one they match they wished Hollywood stanVFX enhances they had done. “I dards. But then it’s stories think we have unfair to even make the comparison,” — AKHAURI SINHA worked on them all. The best effects says Akhauri, out there and the “because the budgets most epic shots involved are vastly different.” However the trend is invariably come out of our comonly growing. “Many of our pany,” says Puja, trying her best young directors understand the to sound modest.