With the rise of technology, VFX based films have also become popular now. However, with more and more films made with visual effects being made in a year, movies shot in real locations and man made sets are back in demand. Seems like this debate has also reached Hrithik Roshan as the Bollywood actor took to his Instagram to share a long post with his fans.
In this Instagram post, the actor mentioned big films like Baahubali, Kalki 2898 AD and even his film War.
What did Hrithik Roshan write?
‘Yes bad VFX exists. It’s sometimes so bad it’s painful to watch. Especially for me… and especially when it’s a film I’m part of. As an 11yr old kid I saw Back to the Future on a trip to london and it changed me forever. I became obsessed. I would sit with my dads VHS player studying the frames pause -play pause-play until I broke the player. I ordered a book ‘industrial light and Magic-The Art of Special Effects’ from Reader’s Digest with my pocket money…and waited months for it to arrive at the Juhu post office. Happiest day of my life. I can still smell the book as I unwrapped it. Many others followed.’
Hrithik mentions Kalki and Baahubali
The actor further wrote, ‘Today some special humans among us, like the makers of films like Kalki, Baahubali, Ramayana, (also my dad for Koi Mill Gaya and Krrish of course) are my heroes, they have the guts and vision to do what’s never been done – all for the love of cinema so that we – the audience get to experience something never watched before. From my point of view they risked all that money, and years and years of effort just so another 11yr old kid could feel what I felt. To me that’s noble. the intention by itself deserves applause! I am proud of my fellow Indians. What I would give to be a part of such dreams even as an assistant.’
Hrithik brings audiences in centre
Hrithik continued and wrote, ‘But this post is not about me, it’s about us the audience. Thing is, it takes thousands of our artistes working round the clock for multiple years to bring VFX heavy films to life so the least we can do is bash them with some better awareness! In my little understanding from the little that I have learnt is that there are different VFX styles adopted by makers to bring their vision to life. It’s like in comics or animation – some prefer ANIME style but that’s not as realistic as spider man-into the spider verse. You can like one style over the other but neither is wrong.’
‘In the same way VFX movies can be Photorealistic (Invisible) VFX where you shouldn’t notice the VFX at all. Like in big scale action films like James Bond, Die hard, War 1 etc. Or the makers can adopt storytelling stylised VFX which is more magical with sometimes enhanced colors, non-realistic lighting, visuals that purposefully resemble beautiful paintings. Like in movies like 300, Lord Of The Rings, etc. Then there are others like Hyperreal/Enhanced Reality – think Superhero films and high concept films like Inception, Fantastical Realism (Hybrid). I also enjoy Surreal/Experimental VFX where they break all reality and logic intentionally. It has Abstract forms, impossible geometry.’
Dhoom 2 actor explains bad VFX
Shedding more light on the matter, Hrithik wrote, ‘Bad VFX is if the movie promises say ‘photorealism’ but is unable to inhabit it fully. Even a small lapse in physics/gravity can then destroy the entire illusion. Or the promise is of storybook style but they fail in making it beautiful enough or artistic enough or divine enough and so fails to engage. But to say that the storybook style is not looking photorealistic – isn’t fair. Cause it’s not meant to be. And you can’t criticise the maker just cause he has chosen one style while you prefer another style. That’s not fair. So sometimes when you say ‘bad VFX,’ maybe it’s just a style you didn’t expect? So next time
don’t just ask, ‘Is it real?’. First ask, ‘Is it right for the story?’ and ‘Is it making me feel what the maker intended?’ Debate it. But debate it with awareness. Yes? Please!’
