The Oscar win for the visual effects for Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two is a big deal for the Mumbai-based firm DNEG that worked on the film. It's the 7th for the country and 8th for the company.
Speaking about the win, DNEG CEO Namit Malhotra expressed pride in the work done by his company.
"Our artists and our capabilities are already ahead of what Indian filmmakers are using... We don't have enough big visual-led effects projects here and that is where we are hoping to get to the next level," said Malhotra in a conversation with PTI.
Malhotra observed that India does most of the visual effects than any other country. "More Indians are working (on VFX) in any major Hollywood film than there are in Indian films. That is a unique reality we are already in."
DNEG addied the VFX work of principal effects artists Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer who collected the Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards on Monday. Lambert acknowledged the work of DNEG and another company Wylie Co. for their contributions.
Formerly Double Negative before it was rebranded as DNEG following its merger with Malhotra's Prime Focus World, the firm has worked on some high-profile Hollywood films like Interstellar, Inception, and Blade Runner 2049 in addition to the first two Dune films.
DNEG is currently collaborating with KGF star Yash for Ramayana, in the capacity of a co-producer and the film's primary VFX team. Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash lead the big-budget epic directed by Nitesh Tiwari.
"Ramayana is something very close to my heart. We are not just doing the visual effects but also producing it. It's a complete integration of all the 30 years of my learning of everything I have had in the industry... It's a challenge but we are excited about that and believe that the time has come for Indian stories and Indian culture to now be more recognised at the world level. It's as good as anything else out there," said Malhotra, who is also working on another highly anticipated Yash-starrer Toxic, helmed by Geetu Mohandas.
