The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Dancing to a different tune: The Bollywood superhero Posted: 26 Apr 2014 01:46 AM PDT The rise of science fiction comes as Indian audiences increasingly grow used to the special effects standards of Hollywood, whose studios have already relied on Indian workers for outsourced support on big-budget productions. But superheroes in one sense mark a return to the old in India, where the majority religion of Hinduism is rooted in epics. "Long before James Cameron created 'Avatar', we had the first blue-skinned guy with a bow and arrow," said Indian American producer Sharad Devarajan, referring to Hinduism's Lord Rama. Among the nominees for best picture at the International Indian Film Awards, Bollywood's premier event which is being held in Tampa, is "Krrish 3", a science-fiction film about a scientist and his superhero son. "Krrish 3" won best special effects yesterday when the academy presented awards for technical work. The film's star Hrithik Roshan, addressing cheering fans, credited the special effects team with creating what had appeared "impossible". Reliance Mediaworks, part of Indian conglomerate Reliance, opened an office in the Los Angeles area in 2008 that now employs 80 to 85 people who work on visual effects and other post-production services including restoration. "Indian film is transforming itself into getting more aligned with cinema that you see in the West. From that perspective, I only see business growing exponentially as we go forward," Reliance Mediaworks' chief executive officer, Venkatesh Roddam, said by telephone. Roddam said that the success of eye-dazzling Hollywood movies had raised the stakes for Indian filmmakers as many consumers can now instantly access films from across the world and compare standards. "Are we beginning to see productions in India of the visual effect quality that you see in Hollywood? Absolutely not, I think it's still got some distance to go. "But is it vastly improving at a rapid pace? I think the answer is yes. And we will get there," Roddam said. Reliance Mediaworks estimated that the market for post-production services including visual effects was US$300 million (RM978 million) in India, mostly from US outsourcing, a sliver of the US$6.5 billion market in the United States. But room for growth is high in India, which has the world's most prolific film industry with annual output of more than 1,100 movies. While Bollywood movies are notorious for liberally taking inspiration from foreign films, India can draw on its own past for superheroes. Devarajan's company Graphic India last year released "18 Days" based on the Mahabharata, the ancient epic account of a battle whose ruminations on the nature of violence underpin Hindu philosophy. Marketed online, "18 Days" aims at a younger and more international audience with its futuristic feel. The animated series was written by Grant Morrison, who has penned "Batman" and "Superman" comics, and is set to music by heavy metal band Pentagram. Devarajan compared the artistic license to the frequent reimagining of Greek myths in Western entertainment. "When I grew up, this was exactly the kind of stuff that took me to another planet," he said of the Mahabharata. "What I want to do is to make a Mahabharata that makes people's jaws drop around the world," he told a panel on the sidelines of the Tampa awards. Devarajan said he was looking to turn "18 Days" into an action series along the lines of HBO's popular fantasy "Game of Thrones" and was also working with Hollywood on a version of "Ramayan 3392 AD", a sci-fi comic inspired by another Hindu epic, the Ramayana. The Indian epics are "great stories which lasted since time immemorial for a reason, and that is because they speak about human truths", he said. – AFP, April 26, 2014. |
| ‘Scandal’ actor Columbus Short leaving hit ABC show Posted: 25 Apr 2014 06:24 PM PDT "Scandal" actor Columbus Short said yesterday that he would not be returning to the hit ABC drama for its next season, a month after the actor was arrested on a felony battery charge. Short, 31, who plays Harrison Wright opposite actress Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope character, said in a statement that he "must confirm my exit from a show I've called home for 3 years." "Everything must come to an end and unfortunately the time has come for Harrison Wright to exit the canvas," he added, without providing details on the reason for his departure. ABC, owned by Walt Disney Co., did not comment on Short's exit from the salacious political drama from hit show creator Shonda Rhimes, which ended its third season last week. Short was charged with felony battery from a March incident in which he allegedly punched and knocked out a male guest at a Los Angeles restaurant. – Reuters, April 26, 2014 |
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