VFX in India: Rapidly Maturing
“Studios with a global plan need to have India figuring in their strategy,” says Anand Gurnani, editor and business development head at Animation Xpress, an Indian trade publication. “If they invest in educating and training the multitudes of India’s raw talent, then the sky is the limit.”
Hyderabad-based Rayudu Vision Media Limited (RVML) is one studio that has launched its own training institute. Harsha Pasupuleti, who is in charge of production at RVML Animation, says that by having RACE Animation College at it facility, the studio can increase its capacity quickly to suit production requirements. It has been boosting its workforce, adding 200 new people as of September 2006. The College offers training in vfx, 3D animation, 2D animation and advanced editing. RVML’s current projects include Lava-Kusa (The Warrior Twins) for Kanipakam Creations, the in-house TV production Jataka Tales and vfx for the film Veerabhadra for Ambika Prods.
There are many studios in India specializing in vfx and/or CG animation, and often a lot of hype surrounding them, making it difficult in some cases to identify the leaders in the market. There are fewer studios involved in vfx; they include Prime Focus, Frameflow, Pixion, and Prasad/EFX, in addition to R&H India. Meanwhile, in CG animation, Crest Animation, Prana Studios, DQ Ent., Toonz Animation India and DataQuest are among those working on local and global projects. Some studios, such as Visual Computing Labs (VCL/Tata), Paprikaas, Rajtaru and Maya Ent., among others, do both vfx and CG work.
Still A Nascent Industry Natarajan points to the increased excitement in the domestic market because of the success of Hanuman, both at the box office and in merchandising, as well as “a major bump in vfx budgets for top Bollywood action movies Krrish and Dhoom 2.” He also notes that several domestic CG features have been announced, which should spur the industry forward.
In addition, several Indian studios have announced strategic partnerships with global studios and distributors, a trend that is expected to continue. For example, DQ Ent. and French studio Onyx formed a joint venture to produce three high-end CG features with releases starting in 2008; DQ also set up a division to make games exclusively for EA U.K.
Hyderabad-based Nipuna signed a deal with Germany’s 4K Animation to co-create animation and vfx for films, TV productions and commercials, while Prana Studios joined with Jim Henson, Flame Ventures and the Weinstein Co. for a new direct-to-video imprint, Unstable Fables, encompassing CG-animated films. Crest, through its U.S. subsidiary RichCrest, partnered with Lionsgate to co-finance and co-produce three feature films, and Ittina Animation of Bangalore teamed with Uli Meyer Animation of the U.K. for a CG movie. Natarajan expects more Indian companies to invest in co-productions, and also to buy foreign studios, as time goes on.
All in all, the Indian vfx and CG animation industry, in spite of its increasingly global profile, is still in its emerging stages. But several occurrences in the last year or so have foreshadowed the growth that many in the industry believe will happen over the next decade.
Still, growth may not occur as fast as some projections suggest. “There is a lot of hype about the animation industry in the local press, and with this hype there is a lot of money being thrown into this industry,” says Balgam. “Several companies are growing very fast in terms of head count of artists to capitalize on this hype.
“It is the beginning of a speculative bubble,” she continues. “However, without the appropriate new talent pool coming into the industry (due to the lack of proper animation education), it will be difficult to sustain the bubble in the short term.”
But Balgam and other practitioners are bullish on the ability of the vfx/CG industry to ultimately become a true global player. “The long term is quite promising for those who have the patience to focus on developing talent and to emphasize the quality aspect of our art,” Balgam concludes. “I believe the industry will mature and the hype will die down a little bit, so that the focus can go back onto the artists who are in this industry for the passion of what they love doing, rather than being driven from a business perspective. When that happens, the quality of work coming out of India will be phenomenal and truly unique.”
Karen Raugust is a Minneapolis-based freelance business writer specializing in animation, publishing, licensing and art. She is the author of The Licensing Business Handbook (EPM Communications).
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