CEO of visual effects major DNEG, Namit Malhotra says that the world of cinema has been divided in a pre and post ‘Dune’ movie. The London headquartered company won an Oscar 2022 all thanks to the Hollywood thriller ‘Dune’.
The movie helped DNEG bag their seventh academy award in the Best Visual Effects category at the award function in Los Angeles. It was one of the two films competing in the category for successful VFX team. Other nomination was for ‘No Time To Die’, a James Bond hit and also first of Bond film to get nominated in the category after many years.
“I have been talking about how there is a pre-Dune and a post-Dune world in the VFX space, simply because of what we were able to achieve,” Malhotra said.
“I have never felt so strongly about the art form and the seamlessness of what we have been able to deliver, it is mind-blowing. When you watch 'Dune', you are left astonished by the sheer seamless, integrated experience it has to offer,” he said.
With reference to the other major success story of the year, Malhotra confesses to being an avid James Bond fan himself since boyhood.
“For the first time, after four-five decades, we are seeing a James Bond film nominated for the VFX category at the Oscars. To get into the line to get the nomination is very, very hard. That is a big step forward,” said the industry expert.
Malhotra represents the third generation of a Bollywood filmmaking family. His dream of becoming a film director took him towards a computer graphics course and resulted in him recruiting three of his teachers as co-founders of Video Workshop, an editing studio in his father's garage in Mumbai.
The 45-year-old film special effects pioneer views his journey to the awards red carpet as a sign of India’s digital prowess.
“India’s digital prowess has been acknowledged far and beyond the projects that have been going on since over a decade. DNEG does help validate the creative talent pool and how technological advances can be used to create a collaborative effort while creating quality content on a global scale,” said Malhotra.
“I started my professional career out of a garage in Mumbai back in 1995 when computers were not that advanced. From such humble beginnings to leading a global conglomerate, I am incredibly grateful to my father for his faith in me,” he said.
Besides winning Oscars for ‘Inception’ in 2011, ‘Interstellar’ in 2015 and ‘Tenet’ in 2021 – all Christopher Nolan films – DNEG has bagged Academy Awards for ‘Ex Machina’ (2016), ‘Blade Runner 2049’ (2018), ‘Fifth Man’ (2019) and now ‘Dune’ to make up the company's impressive Hollywood tally.
“While we continue to push the creative envelope, there are a plethora of projects our teams are working on, closely with creators to bring an immersive cinematic experience for the audience which includes ‘The Last Of Us’, ‘The Flash’, ‘Aquaman 2’ and many more,” added Malhotra.
Inputs by PTI
