For the motion designers who helped shape Sacred Games, Farzi and Gangs of Wasseypur, the online pile-on around Ramayana’s VFX has missed something important: the artists behind the frames. Yashoda Parthasarthy and Vijesh Rajan have asked Hindi film fans to support Ranbir Kapoor’s Ramayana even when a shot doesn’t feel perfect.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, they said the scale of the film — and what it could do for Indian cinema globally — matters more than a single frame.
A dream project, now a global test
Rajan said his MA thesis in Australia asked whether an epic like the Ramayana or Mahabharata could be made on the scale of The Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia. For him, the current film is that experiment arriving in cinemas. “It is a project we should back regardless of flaws,” he said.
He added that the film is mounted on a massive budget and is releasing globally with collaborators such as Hans Zimmer and AR Rahman. “Other than Toxic, I don’t think a film has gotten this wide release,” Rajan said.
Rajan drew a line between criticism and trolling. “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,” he said. “There is a lot of trolling, and there is some sort of campaign against the film.”
Why the budget comparison stings
Parthasarthy, whose credits include Raman Raghav 2.0 and Ghoul, pushed back on the habit of judging Indian VFX against Marvel or Avengers productions. Those films, she said, operate on budgets roughly ten times larger.
“Having worked in visual effects and motion design, I remember when 3D animation was such a difficult process,” she said. “There is a lot of work that goes into making anything photoreal.” Around 10,000 people have worked on Ramayana’s visual effects, she noted, and careless online statements can feel “a little heartbreaking” when aimed at that team.
What the fans can actually do
- Support the film for its global ambition, not just its final shots.
- Critique flaws without trolling the people who made them.
- Remember the 10,000-artist team behind the visual effects.
Both supervisors believe the film’s success could open doors for other Indian filmmakers aiming at international audiences. Their latest short film Aakhri Ride, presented by Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala, arrives on the YouTube channel Oh Short Flips on October 31.
Source: Hindustan Times