Magic Formula

Shekhar Kapur,Abbas-Mustan,Pooja Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma have announced their 3-D projects. “Avatar has been a turning point in the history of cinema. Everyone is bound to jump on to the 3-D bandwagon. And since the technology—though expensive now — is available,why not utilise it?” asks Varma,who will soon begin work on his 3-D film Raksha with John Abraham,and a 3-D horror film Warning.

Up till now,fantasy,adventure and action have dominated the 3-D format. But Indian filmmakers beg to differ. Filmmaker Rohan Sippy is working on a script that claims to bring together thriller and romance. “Once the novelty of 3-D wears off,the scripts will decide the fate of the film,” he says. Vikram Bhatt,who has announced his supernatural 3-D film Yama Dwar,seconds Sippy. “Things from the screen need not come flying at you for a good 3-D experience. We saw that in Avatar. The technology enhances the content but it cannot guarantee success. After the initial experience,the audiences will look for a good script,” Bhatt says.

Even as filmmakers line up their 3-D projects,including Pooja’s sequel to Jism and Abbas-Mustan’s thriller,the question arises whether India is technically equipped to handle 3-D of the quality that matches international standards. Namit Malhotra,the founding CEO of Prime Focus,the Indian company that worked on Avatar as well as Clash of the Titans,says,“It is time Indian filmmakers exploited the resources available.”

Kapur — who is working on his ambitious project Paani that might star Hrithik Roshan — is in talks with international technicians about the feasibility of turning it into a 3-D movie. “I am currently shuttling between the UK and the US,checking out the reality of shooting in 3-D. I don’t want to jump into it till I am sure of the implications of shooting in 3-D to standards now set by Avatar,” he says. Sippy too is considering shooting in Los Angeles,which has cutting-edge technical know-how.

While multiplexes are gearing for a wave of 3-D films to hit the screen,one wonders about the fate of such films in single screens in small towns. Varma isn’t worried. “Indian theatres have been showing 3-D films since Chhota Chetan.” At the FICCI meet in Mumbai recently,a forum of multiplex and theatre owners announced that they intend to get 500 screens 3-D-ready by 2011. Vikram adds that the format is ideal for bringing the crowd to single screens,but agrees that the special spectacles can be irritating for some. “But the technology is bound to evolve,” he says.

Until all Indian theatres are 3-D-ready,the filmmakers plan to release their films in both 3-D and 2-D formats. “That should take care of the financial viability since 3-D films are expensive to make,” says Sippy. Vikram believes it’s only a matter of time before every single screen can show 3-D films. “When Agneepath released two songs in Dolby sound,no one believed it would become a universal phenomenon. Today,every film uses Dolby sound. 3-D will follow suit.”

However,much of the success of the format will depend on the quality of the films under production. And as filmmaker Sippy puts it,“The future of 3-D in India will depend on whether or not the first few people to release 3-D films get it right.”