Animation in films is taking baby steps with each movie that gets released and many predict that YRF-Disney‘s Roadside Romeo, slated for a late October release, will be the litmus test for animation films in India.
Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of TATA ELXSI, located in Mumbai has seen most of the work for Jugal Hansraj‘s magnum opus happening within the confines of it‘s formal yet cosy studio floor. Presiding over the team is the Creative Director of VCL, Pakaj Khandpur.
Stalwart Khandpur is amongst the most well known and respected professionals in the business, in the animation, VFX and gaming industry; in Bollywood and also in Hollywood.
What new projects is VCL handling?
We have started work on the second film, after Romeo, which is also a Yashraj-Disney film. It doesn’t have a name yet… it is untitled. The script is ready and preproduction has started.
So what is the movie about?
(laughs) Buy a movie ticket and see it 18 months from now.
So it is the second movie coming from the Yashraj-Disney stable?
Yes.
Which stage is Roadside Romeo in?
About 95 per cent of the animation is done and we are in shot finalling and lighting, Right now and about 15 per cent of the movie is completely ready, on film. We have seen it, we have presented it. It’s been liked a lot. It’s looking very good and we are very pleased with the quality we are getting in terma of the quality of animation, the quality of look and feel, lighting. We believe that this [Roadside Romeo] will be fairly close to an international specification as opposed to what we say ‘this is good for India’. I think this will be good for the rest of the world as well.
You have worked with many Bollywood directors. How has your experience of working with Jugal Hansraj been, given the fact that this is his debut as a director?
Jugal is an incredible person. I disagree completely with the idea that because you’ve never directed a film, you can’t direct one. We all started somewhere, isn’t it? We all started from not knowing what we were doing, to beginning to know what we are doing. The thing about Jugal is that he has two very admirable qualities that have helped Romeo a great deal. Number one, he has passion beyond what I expected anybody to have. He has written the script;in fact, he has lived, eaten, drunk that script. So he knows when something works for him and how well he works for him. He knows the story and the performances inside out. He has directed the performance of the voice stars brilliantly.
The second incredible thing about him is that he has the patience – because as you know animation requires a huge amount of patience – far more than any of us do. In animation there is a huge leap of imagination that you have to have between the time you actually start seeing the basic work till the final render. That period could be more than a year! You therefore have to fill in the gaps a lot. You are looking at a character and saying that this looks nice as a playblast but what will it look like with lighting, what will the mood be when the lighting, texture, fur, backgrounds come in… none of which you are seeing but you are expected to react to it. It’s like shooting a film with the lights turned off and telling the director, “Don’t worry, when the lights come on it will look great.” The director can see vaguely, barely what he needs to see, but he has to imagine a lot of things. And that is an incredible [quality]. In fact, that is something that I would tell all potential directors of animation films.
To come back to your question, I think it’s an asset that he has never directed a film before. The fact that he has never directed helps; if he had, especially a live action film – you’d be spoilt. In a live action film when you are shooting a scene, when actors do the shot and they get it right, you know it’s done. There is nothing more for your imagination to see. In this instance [animation movies], not only are you imagining the whole film and how it works - because you are also not seeing scenes in order – but you are also expected to imagine within the scenes.
Is TATA ELXSI also working with UTV?
We have been working with UTV in other areas for many years. Personally, I have been involved with UTV in the past. The UTV and UTV Spotboy logo has been done by us. We are talking to them about animation as well.
About features as well?
Yes.
So can we expect UTV and Visual Computing Labs joining hands together?
Right now we are working as we are with other clients in delivering animation production [to them].
Which trends do you see in VFX?
It’s very good to see that the bar is being raised every year, and it is being raised not proportionalely but logarithmically which means every year the amount of use of VFX goes up manifold. That’s an incredible thing to see. We are thrilled that our work is getting more exciting and challenging every year. We are forced to learn new things, be more innovative in what we do. What else could you wish for? Filmmakers are beginning to understand and use the power of VFX. It is an incredible time to be in this business.
Where does India stand in the global VFX scenario?
It’s a fairly simplistic question but there is no simple answer. Hollywood is a benchmark because they have pushed the curve a great deal. They have the resources, the money-power, the software skills, the artist skills and they have all of these by a factor of 300 or 400 more than what India does. When you have that high level of capability in all areas, your filmmakers want to push the bar. India is a micro-ecosystem. Studios like TATA ELXSI are already doing work for international projects. We have worked for projects like last year’s Spirerman 3, Ghost Rider and Lions for Lambs, Iron Man this year. In fact, we have credits on these films. We have done bits of Indiana Jones.
Now, are we doing that level of work? No. We don’t have the resources, the capability and the skills in adequate numbers to be able to do it. Once we have the skills, there is no reason why we won’t be able to do it. Right now you can do it [work which meets international standards] in pockets and you can do it in very limited quantities. For example, we are doing some fairly cutting-edge work for Indian feature films. But our output is limited by the number of artists with the high-level of skill sets that we require. As we go forward and more and more artists and willing to enter the field and take the trouble to learn and grow as artists, there is no reason why you won’t get to the same [international] spot.
What have been VCL’s recent Indian projects?
Joodha Akbar, Taare Zameen Par, Aaja Nachle, Tara Rum Pum, Rang De Basanti, Gandhi My Father, Dhoom 2, in the past one-and-half-years.
TATA ELXSI has made foray into gaming. What are the developments on that front?
It’s early days in the gaming business. We have some interesting work going on right now. It seems to be gaining definite and quick traction. Our teams are in Bangalore (console gaming) and Pune (mobile gaming). VCL Mumbai handles the art. Though we are setting up smaller skeleton units for art in each of these units for specific work, but when it becomes large scale work we [Mumbai] will still take care of the game cinematics and art.
We also remember that our pedigree as a company is that we are a software engineering company. We have almost 3,000 software engineers. So a large part of our capability is indeed delivering an end-to-end solution to the client which is from writing the algorithms for the engine all the way through to the final art and geometry that is required to make a game.
How much does VCL contribute to TATA ELXSI in terms of financials?
The turnover of TATA ELXSI is more than Rs 400 crore for the last financial year. At this moment, VCL contributes around 5-10 per cent of the total revenues. We are hoping that VCL will be the fastest growing part of TATA ELXSI.
IP creation or service providing: where do you see most of the revenues coming from?
Right now there are no revenues in IP creation. Animation is nascent, it’s a baby business. There have been one successful animated film (Hanuman). The others, I understand, have not done as well as they could have. So there is no animation industry, so to speak. We are hoping that this will change. As professionals we are hoping that our own [Indian] market recognises animation as an industry, as a genre and appreciate it and pay good money to see it. That’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it? But you have to start somewhere.
A film like Roadside Romeo will be a watershed film, it’ll be a milestone. The reason why it’ll be a milestone is that it will be India’s first mainstream Bollywood film. It is not a mythological. All the animated features that we have spoken about and seen are mythologicals; because it’s a safe bet. Generally I think you are more forgiving as an audience when you see a mythological because you are seeing your beloved gods and characters performing. So you are kind of forgiving about the quality standards, as the subject is so dear to your heart. It’s a safe subject, people assume that a mythological will receover its money.
Now, here comes along a film like Roadside Romeo which has nothing to do with mythology. It’s a proper Bollywood masala-formula film. It has a hero, heroine and a villain. It has a boy-meets-girl and a boy-loses-girl. It has six songs. So its following a typical Bollywood formula, right? In fact, it’s spoofing the Bollywood formula. The beauty of the thing is that it’s built to international specifications and quality levels. So you are seeing good international quality animation product but you can connect with it. As an Indian audience you can connect with it. Now, the success or failure of Roadside Romeo will be a very good indicator of where the animation industry is going. So we are praying, indeed, that films like Roadside Romeo do well at the box office. In our business like any other business, nothing succeeds like success. So even if you are a brilliant film but if it’s not successful, you haven’t [really] achieved what you had set out to achieve. Hence, it is important that we are a box office success, so that there is a future for this industry.
In the case of outsourcing, why are companies in the business? Because we realise that IP in India is not adequate yet to build the kind of organisation that you want with the people that you require. It’s not enough to fund you and to keep you going. And it is not going to be. If you ask me as a personal conviction, change will happen. But the objective is that you outsource, get the stability you need and then start doing IP when you are ready to do IP. See, all of us can jump in and say ‘let me start doing my own film’. It takes a lot to do your own film; it’s not easy to do it. It requires huge skill sets and huge amount of revenues to do it well. If you are doing, then do it well. But for that you have to spend a lot of money, get the skill sets, spend a lot of time and have lots of patience. So while you are doing all of these things, you have to outsource. And in the mean time, the scenario is that you will have IP that will work, maybe some crossover might work… we don’t know. Once you see that there is an industry that can be sustainable… that’s the whole key. There is no point in you and I doing business if you are operating in an industry in which there is no future.
When it comes to VFX, what do you see as the emerging trends globally?
The use of more and more technology that is being kicked into projects. For example motion-capture is a big deal. I predict that you will see a lot more of motion capture, and not only in animation. I am talking VFX, about CGI done using motion-capture. Beowulf is a recent film in which the CGI has been done completely by motion-capture. That’s one trend.
We’re going to see a lot of high-technology being kicked into VFX. Yet the traditional artistic skills will still be required in CGI… even if it’s digital you need great talent to be able to pull it off. So, are we getting there [international standards]? Yes, we are. We are using exactly the same technology as the West is using. In fact, we as a company, are writing some of the tools that the West is using. We are providing pipeline tools to one of the top three animation companies and the number one VFX company in the US. So when you say that we are using the tools, we are actually creating them, on one level.
Is India more technically sound than the West?
Let me give you a parallel… the Indian software engineer is very well respected. So if you noticed, it is the technology in engineering skills that is going out first, whether outsource or off-shore or even near-shore. Like we do some work in Japan - what we call near shore – we have set up our own centre but not at the clients’ location but in our own location in Tokyo. So, definitely the Indian mind is considered very analytical and mathematical… it’s a proven record since the late 1970’s. Hence the first thing that gets required and wanted is engineering and technology services. We are doing it in gaming.
You might ask me why is creativity not following? The reason is simple. The logic applied is– I am not necessarily agreeing with it – that when you talk creativity and aesthetics you are talking about cultural sensibilities. You are talking about designing something for an American audience but by an Indian designer. How easy is that to bridge? I don’t know. But that is definitely a thought in the minds of North American costumers. We have been involved and have designed every single part of Roadside Romeo, right from the the visualization to pre production. Would an American company get us to do that? I doubt it. Why? Because they will say how do you understand what American culture is? But that line is blurring, it’s a matter of time before one of our projects are seen and people say that ‘these guys are like us’. OK the language is different. But it’s just a matter of modifying the attitudes. What’s the big deal in doing that?
What do you see as their pros and cons of Indian animators?
The Indian animator is very good. Indian animator is also completely indisciplined. That’s a pro and a con straightaway. Our power of expression is brilliant, our animation capability in my opinion is as good as the rest of the world. I think a little bit of mentoring and guidance and, I think, our animators will be as good as anyone in the world. It’s only a matter of time. What’s holding us back is the fact that there are not many animation projects. Now if you don’t have enough animation projects, where do you learn, where do you grow? Who do you bounce off ideas against, who do you mentor under? It’s only when you do enough of them, is when you start growing and doing better things.
There is a certain discipline that is required to deliver animation in a reasonable time. That is the key. Unfortunately, our productivity levels are not really good. Considering the kind of animation we do, we can certainly do better than that. Artists in India need to understand that it is a profession and in a profession it is not just enough to have the power of expression and the talent. Disciplining the talent is as important. Sometimes there is a question mark about Indian deliveries, timeliness. You hear less problems about Indian quality but more about Indian timeliness. It is important to fix both.
What are the projects VCL is working on right now?
There is the untitled project with Disney which will have animals and will be a Bollywood masala film. When it comes to VFX, we are working on about five projects right now including God Tussi Great Ho, Drona, Bachna Aye Haseeno and Rab ne Bana di Jodi. It terms of Bollywood we are expecting a big project by July end for which we are co-bidding with the Hollywood company.
The level of HR inflow into the industry is often criticised. Comments.
We have as a country not invested time in training. We have not invested in helping students to grow and become good artists. If you are talking about training schools that do operate in India.. those are not training but vocational schools, those are schools that teach you how to use the tools. And they do their job. What are the aesthetic and artistic skills that you have inculcated in your artists, is the question mark. So just because you can do a great walk-cycle, it means nothing. But doing a walk-cycle with attitude that gives you a certain storytelling is the key to the whole thing. Who teaches you that? Nobody does. We still don’t have, it might have changed, any institution that does this kind of training. What investment have any of us made in the proper sort of training? So why are we complaining? You’ll be stuck with this: low productivity, lack of professional attitude, lack of discipline, lack of adequate aesthetics and creativity. You don’t think when you work… you press buttons. That’s the sad reality. When you are saying that artists enter the business with the intention of making money, well they’ll exit also equally quickly. Because earning money is an end product to what you do, it’s not the reason why you do what you do.
Can you elucidate on your concept of training?
I believe in this concept of the right sort of training. I believe in vocational training certainly but it is only the base level you can start with. After that, there is a hell lot that you have to learn. We take artists who have either worked for a year of or have done vocational training. We have a school of VCL, so to speak, we take 20 artists every three months and we work with them on the floor. After the first month or two they are actually mentored by actual departments. They have very rigorous schedules. We have had three batches, and all 60 are with the company.
Recently a batch of 20 students and artists from here were sent to the University of Southern California for a workshop that we designed, which the University of Southern California executed for us. It was academic training, it was understanding your role in the history of CGI. We did the history of animation, how VFX was done before digital technology came in. At the same time we they had exposure to cutting-edge technology: what is stereoscopy, they actually spent two days at a motion-capture lab there. We did a cross-pollination of artists, through which the animator was studying visual effects. This was done so that the artist knows his universe. It is unfortunate that many artists have blinkers on. They do not realise that the fine degree of specialisation will make one very dependent on everybody else.
I have to convince my artists that what they are doing is the finest and the most noblest thing that they could ever do.
What are the challenges while dealing with technology?
We are the first studio in the country that started with massive, which is a crowd multiplication algorithm and has an artificial intelligence component. In fact, we are using the world’s fourth fastest CPU, with 4,000 CPUs, based in Computational Research Laboratories for rendering Romeo.
What are you your hopes and aspirations from Roadside Romeo?
I just hope that we go where we want to. If we can all contribute be it training, be it evangelist, be it pushing the curve with every project. In VFX we have reached a place where we try and do things that we have already done. And if you look at our track record we do a maximum of a dozen films every year as we try to do the best job possible. So, with Roadside Romeo I was very clear with what I wanted. I told the team, I told myself, I told everybody that when we see this film projected… no one should say ‘this is good for India, yaar’. Any audience should see and not wonder where it was made. What is good for India should also be good for the world. So that’s why it‘s so critical that the film should work.
My advice to anyone who wants to make an animated film in India: don’t do it (laughs). It’s very difficult. It takes the mickey out of you. If you are doing it above a certain level to maintain the desired quality, it becomes very difficult. No excuses, remember, in whatever we do.
Sourse animationxpress.com
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