Ayan Mukerji, whose most recent film is “Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva,” says he wanted to push the boundaries of Indian cinema with this project.
Brahmastra was implanted in my head before I even realised it, according to Mukerji. I grew up hearing tales of Indian mythology and history and was always captivated by them. I wanted to write a novel with a strong foundation in Indian spiritual heritage but with contemporary twists and turns.
I wanted to create the universe of Brahmastra in a way that would push the boundaries of Indian cinema, and I was inspired by several films that brought mythical worlds to life. Namit and his crews put in a lot of effort alongside me to make this adventure movie come to life, and they were a crucial part of the journey. We are able to present to the audience a film that has never been seen before because to the tireless efforts of his team, the Brahmastra crew, and the cast.
The bar was set high enough to represent Indian cinema on a worldwide scale thanks to an ambitious script by Mukerji and a talented cast. Namit Malhotra, the founder of Prime Focus Limited and the chairman and global CEO of the seven-time Oscar-winning business DNEG, joined the team of prominent companies including Fox Star Studios, Disney, and acclaimed director Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions to assist in achieving this.
The first of its kind, it imagines a cosmic world that has been accurately scaled using VFX and technology.
The producers of Brahmastra enlisted the services of the brilliant experts of Prime Focus Group, who provided 3D conversion on critically and technically renowned films including Avatar and Gravity. Additionally, Prime Focus teams were tasked with cloning and mastering the digital materials for both standard and IMAX 3D screens.
In order to smoothly connect the fictional world with the real world, the PF group also supplied colour grading (DI) services for the movie. Prakash Kurup, a co-founder of PF, was in charge of overseeing the editing of Brahmastra.
Brahmastra also received support from on-set camera equipment and cutting-edge sound stages. The spectacular sound effects and scores for Brahmastra, which are likely to titillate the viewing experience, were created by Jam8, a music and sound design studio led by Pritam in collaboration with Prime Focus.
The world-famous VFX studios of Prime Focus, DNEG and ReDefine, worked with the filmmakers to create the stunning visual effects that can be seen in the shots of Brahmastra today. These studios have a 25-year track record in media integrated solutions.
The same DNEG teams have also made contributions to films that have won Oscars, including Dune, Tenet, Bladerunner 2049, First Man, and others. Over the course of the last four years, more than 3000 artists from the Prime Focus group accomplished this enormous feat.
With almost 4500 VFX shots, “Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva” may claim the record for having the most visual effects ever used in a movie.
Producer of “Brahmastra,” Namit Malhotra, stated: “From editing tiny budget productions to creating Oscar quality cinematic experiences, it’s been quite a long and fruitful journey for us. We were able to realise Ayan’s vision for Brahmastra, our largest Indian production to date, because to all the experiences we’ve gained over the previous 25 years as well as technological and VFX developments. This was not possible without the constant hard work of teams from Prime Focus, DNEG, and ReDefine. I hope Brahmastra establishes a standard and motivates many filmmakers and creatives to push the edge because I am today genuinely proud of the job we did on it.
