Ramayana’s VFX sparks a 'furious' debate: Should we support Indian art 'regardless of its flaws'?

Writer-director and VFX supervisors Yashoda Parthasarthy and Vijesh Rajan, who have worked on projects such as Sacred Games, Farzi and Gangs of Wasseypur, recently opened up about the criticism surrounding the VFX of Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Ramayana.

In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times, the VFX supervisors called out the online criticism. They pointed out the effort that goes into making visual effects look photorealistic and echoed the film's actor and co-producer Yash's words, emphasising that films like Ramayana must be supported as they could open doors for other Indian filmmakers to reach a global audience.

'Have always dreamed of a film like this being made'

Speaking about supporting Ramayana, Vijesh Rajan said, "When I was doing my MA in Film in Australia, my thesis idea was whether an epic like Ramayana or Mahabharata could be made on the scale of The Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia. I've always dreamt of a film like this being made. As an Indian audience, we should support such endeavors. Other than Toxic, I don't think a film has gotten this wide release. It's mounted on a massive budget and is being released globally on an unprecedented scale with collaborations from Hans Zimmer, AR Rahman, and top technicians. "

'There is some sort of campaign against the film'

Vijesh emphasised that while criticism is necessary, trolling and nasty comments can leave a bad taste for filmmakers. He said, "It is a project we should back regardless of flaws; we should discuss the flaws, but there is a way in which people speak, and that can be off-putting to a lot of filmmakers. There is a lot of trolling, and there is some sort of campaign against the film, and I feel like, why? We should support any endeavour that is mounted on this scale. It will only open doors for other Indian filmmakers to reach the international audience, and that is a huge step."

'Comparing our films to Marvel or Avengers movies is unfair; they have 10x the budget'

Yashoda, who has worked on projects such as Raman Raghav 2.0 and Ghoul, also spoke about the effort involved in creating visual effects that look realistic. She said, "Having worked in visual effects and motion design, I remember when I was studying and 3D animation was such a difficult process in itself, and in the past decade, it has evolved a lot. But having said that, there is a lot of work that goes into making anything photoreal and people compare our films to Marvel or Avengers movies, which have 10x the budget that we have."

She added, "There's a lack of research, empathy, and understanding of how visual effects work. We don't support art and design, and when statements are thrown, it is a little heartbreaking because those 10,000 people have worked on it. So, definitely need to support films like Ramayana. Also, not everybody can animate, if they did, then everybody would be an expert. Let's be a little more empathetic."

Yashoda and Vijesh's latest short film Aakhri Ride stars Chandan Roy and Aamir Dalvi, and features Faisal Malik in an interesting role. It is presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala. It is produced by Ranjan Singh, Vishesh Agrawal, Rajan EPK and Anurag. It will release on the YouTube channel Oh Short Flips, which is curated by Anurag, on Halloween, October 31,