The convergence of two worlds, the unison of two subtly candid enemy nations and the power of humanity and love over innumerable differences of culture was portrayed vividly through the Salman Khan blockbuster Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
Directed by Kabir Khan, this film bagged the National Film Award this year for providing wholesome entertainment. Apart from the story and the central message of the film which led an uproar of emotions in the audience and drove people of all cultures to witness this masterpiece, the visual effects work enhanced the whole appearance of the film.
The film displayed two different nations or rather two contradictory worlds possessing geographical, cultural and artistical differences. The background of Kashmir or the upper cut of India and Pakistan had similarities yet each were distinct in its own way. Additionally, it was a Salman Khan starrer so there had to be few action and emotional power sequences. All this had to be visually appealing to the viewers and that’s where VFX came into the picture.
Prime Focus, the VFX studio has that worked on earlier Salman features like Kick, Jai Ho and Wanted, delivered the visual effects work including the DI process for this film. The VFX work was supervised by VFX supervisor Keith Devlin, and Merzin Tavaria headed the project as the creative director while the overall look and palette of the movie was set by colourist S Manoj C.P.K Verma.
The climax sequence of the film felt the need for the creation of various background elements to enhance the whole feel of the border between India and Pakistan. Crowd multiplication, creation of the division borderline fence and barb wires, and beautification of the geographical symmetry was achieved to add life to the sequence as it was the most prominent and emotionally influencing part of the film. The team worked on matte painting backgrounds and replacing the natural landscapes, set extensions were added and multi layered compositing was done to create what seemed a glory shot for the film.
As the director Kabir Khan always mentions that Bajrangi Bhaijaan is a totally off beat movie as compared to typical Salman Khan stardom action packed movies, the visual effects work along with colour correction in DI managed to enhance the story and leave the audience bewildered at the climax.