No More Hollywood Dependence for Indian Cinema?

Telugu cinema has introduced numerous advanced filmmaking technologies over the years, thanks to our visionary directors, expert technicians and world class film studios in Hyderabad for putting in great efforts to enhance the viewing experience of moviegoers.  

Now, Renowned Tollywood filmmaking institute, Annapurna Studios, owned by actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, has launched what it described as India’s most advanced Motion Capture facility, the A&M MoCap Lab, by joining hands with Baahubali producer Shobu Yarlagadda’s Mihira Visual Labs and technology partner Animatrik Film Design. 

The pathbreaking facility was inaugurated by India’s most prolific filmmaker SS Rajamouli on Wednesday. On this occasion, he made an interesting revelation about this advanced technology. 

Rajamouli divulged that key sequences of his upcoming film Varanasi, which is billed as one of the costliest films in the history of Indian cinema, starring Mahesh Babu and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, were shot using the new technology. He further revealed that the output has been fantastic. 

Rajamouli earlier made motion pictures like Baahubali and Eega. But, he had to depend on studios outside India to get the desired output. From this, filmmakers will no longer need to rely on Hollywood technicians. 

This advancement is perceived as a giant leap for Indian cinema as it will help directors to capture scenes in a more immersive manner without depending of any foreign infrastructure and global studios as it is being done till now. 

This is not the first time Rajamouli has partnered with Annapurna Studios on introducing a new technology. Earlier, he launched India’s first Dolby cinema processing facility at the same studio. 

As Indian filmmakers are coming up with content that matches the global standards and reaching audiences across the world, technologies like A&M will facilitate them to turn their vision into reality by improving the quality of scenes. 

The lab features state-of-the-art facilities like 60-by-40-by-30-foot capture volume equipped with Vicon Valkyrie VK26 cameras offering sub-millimeter optical tracking precision and real-time data streaming via Vicon Live.

It also integrates Unreal Engine for live virtual production previsualization and includes Stereo Head-Mounted Camera units for high-resolution facial performance capture.