Remember the film Chhota Chetan and with it Indiafirst experienced the thrill of 3D cinema. Subsequently the fad has come and gone — sometimes creating a buzz and sometimes not.
But the recent trend of 3D films still in its nascent stage is giving filmmakers reason to strike gold at the box-office. Two years ago James Cameron's Avatar created storm at the ticket window in India and more recently Vikram Bhatt's 3D horror film Haunted also became a huge hit. Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's upcoming film, The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, will release in India a month ahead of its US release date. This year's Pirates of the Carribean - On Stranger Tides and Kung Fu Panda-2 both did well in 3D. Michael Bay's 3D action adventure Transformers: Dark of the Moon was also 3D. Then there is Titanic that will release in 3D (2012), Godzilla, Madagascar 3, Ice-Age: Continental Drift, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, The Dark Knight Rises and The Great Gatsby releasing in the coming months.
Even Bollywood filmmakers are also gearing up to join the 3D race. Vikram Bhatt will make Raaz-3 and Dangerous Ishq, Shirish Kunder's Joker, Ram Gopal Varma's untitled next with Kangana Ranaut, Shekhar Kapoor's Paani in 3D. SRK's RA.One, though not shot in 3D is also in talks to be converted to the 3D format when it releases. Says Nandu Ahuja, senior vice president of the company distributing the film, "The BO collections for all the 3D movies released in the recent past are so phenomenal that we can't ignore the possibility of releasing RA.One in 3D. Agreed India is not equipped with enough 3D screens, but till Diwali I am sure more such screens will be added to the list. There are many digital players in the market and releasing the film in 3D means more collections."
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels that 3D is quite a challenge and had mentioned in an earlier interview, "Haunted 3D does not play on the gore aspects of a horror film. I wanted to go beyond the dead body jumping out of a morgue on a foggy night cliche. So making it a thrilling film — which kept the viewers on the edge — on 3D was my main challenge."
Says trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Even if you have 30-40 odd 3D cinema screens in India, it should mean good business for the filmmakers. But the filmmaker should be sure of an additional experience for the viewer with 3D format. A lot of work needs to be done to help the audience retain their excitement for the format. Films should only be 3D if the content is 3D-worthy, otherwise the effort will look forced. But nobody can wish it away."
It costs roughly ` 10 lakh to convert an existing 2D screen to a 3D, while building a separate 3D screen altogether can cost as much as ` 35 lakh, depending on the technology. City multiplex owners feels that investing in 3D equipped screens is a must. Says multiplex owner Ashok Purohit, "The SFX and technology required for the movie watching experience is not easy to get in India. Having said that, 3D films should be of shorter duration and my next plan of action is to install 3D screens as most Hollywood movies are released in 3D format these days." Agrees Ashish Saxena, CEO of a popular chain of multiplexes across India, "Earlier films were converted from 2D to 3D but now with demand growing Hindi films are being shot in 3D. Also the technical quality of films have improved and with better content, I don't see any reason why India can't get more such screens."
Filmmakers are excited about the idea too. As filmmaker Karan Johar says, "I am so excited that the 3D technology is now available to filmmakers like myself. It will literally add a new dimension to our story telling and creative expression."
So as of now, 3D looks like a roller coaster ride viewers would love to experience and help filmmakers rake in more moolah. After all numbers matter, irrespective of the format!
But the recent trend of 3D films still in its nascent stage is giving filmmakers reason to strike gold at the box-office. Two years ago James Cameron's Avatar created storm at the ticket window in India and more recently Vikram Bhatt's 3D horror film Haunted also became a huge hit. Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's upcoming film, The Adventures of Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn, will release in India a month ahead of its US release date. This year's Pirates of the Carribean - On Stranger Tides and Kung Fu Panda-2 both did well in 3D. Michael Bay's 3D action adventure Transformers: Dark of the Moon was also 3D. Then there is Titanic that will release in 3D (2012), Godzilla, Madagascar 3, Ice-Age: Continental Drift, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked, A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas, The Dark Knight Rises and The Great Gatsby releasing in the coming months.
Even Bollywood filmmakers are also gearing up to join the 3D race. Vikram Bhatt will make Raaz-3 and Dangerous Ishq, Shirish Kunder's Joker, Ram Gopal Varma's untitled next with Kangana Ranaut, Shekhar Kapoor's Paani in 3D. SRK's RA.One, though not shot in 3D is also in talks to be converted to the 3D format when it releases. Says Nandu Ahuja, senior vice president of the company distributing the film, "The BO collections for all the 3D movies released in the recent past are so phenomenal that we can't ignore the possibility of releasing RA.One in 3D. Agreed India is not equipped with enough 3D screens, but till Diwali I am sure more such screens will be added to the list. There are many digital players in the market and releasing the film in 3D means more collections."
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels that 3D is quite a challenge and had mentioned in an earlier interview, "Haunted 3D does not play on the gore aspects of a horror film. I wanted to go beyond the dead body jumping out of a morgue on a foggy night cliche. So making it a thrilling film — which kept the viewers on the edge — on 3D was my main challenge."
Says trade analyst Komal Nahta, "Even if you have 30-40 odd 3D cinema screens in India, it should mean good business for the filmmakers. But the filmmaker should be sure of an additional experience for the viewer with 3D format. A lot of work needs to be done to help the audience retain their excitement for the format. Films should only be 3D if the content is 3D-worthy, otherwise the effort will look forced. But nobody can wish it away."
It costs roughly ` 10 lakh to convert an existing 2D screen to a 3D, while building a separate 3D screen altogether can cost as much as ` 35 lakh, depending on the technology. City multiplex owners feels that investing in 3D equipped screens is a must. Says multiplex owner Ashok Purohit, "The SFX and technology required for the movie watching experience is not easy to get in India. Having said that, 3D films should be of shorter duration and my next plan of action is to install 3D screens as most Hollywood movies are released in 3D format these days." Agrees Ashish Saxena, CEO of a popular chain of multiplexes across India, "Earlier films were converted from 2D to 3D but now with demand growing Hindi films are being shot in 3D. Also the technical quality of films have improved and with better content, I don't see any reason why India can't get more such screens."
Filmmakers are excited about the idea too. As filmmaker Karan Johar says, "I am so excited that the 3D technology is now available to filmmakers like myself. It will literally add a new dimension to our story telling and creative expression."
So as of now, 3D looks like a roller coaster ride viewers would love to experience and help filmmakers rake in more moolah. After all numbers matter, irrespective of the format!
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