Trespassing borders for good cinema

This might well be the beginning of something new in Malayalam cinema. As Vijay Raj Jothi - business and technical consultant for film, animation and VFX, and director of the Chennai-based film production company Bhramma Cine Creations - gets talking about the firm’s first Malayalam production, ‘Sivapuram,’ we are forced to believe so.

“The hero, Bala, had some issues with the date when all that was left to do was a flashback scene. That is when we thought why not try something new and appealing in the film,” says Vijay. Thus the team went ahead and did the flashback in 3D in a semi-realistic animation that is not too cartoonish.

“There is a norm usually followed for showing a flashback and that is done by using different negatives and cameras or changing the colour tones. Bala’s date problems actually gave us an opportunity to test the acceptability of animation in Mollywood. It was more a creative decision than a compulsion.”

Vijay, who did a computer animation course at Sheridan College, Canada, brings with him extensive experience in studio development and a good knowledge of production pipeline design for the execution and management of large scale productions.

He got his first appointment order while he was yet to complete his multimedia course! “It was after my visit to Editpoint Studio, Chennai, that I realised how highly paying a job in this sector is. I was brought up in the ‘You better be either a doctor or an engineer’ family and here was my chance to escape!” says Vijay.

After graduation, he joined Penta Four Communication Ltd, which opened before him the doors of the corporate world. “It gave me a chance to meet the big fish in the industry. The company sent me abroad to do some formal education in the field and also to equip myself with specialization degree.”

And he secured an admission for 3D Character Animation at Sheridan. The college opened up new vistas for Vijay. “I got an admission only at the second go. They waived a year off from the two-year course because of my experience in the industry. I spent the best part of my life in Sheridan.” The class had 15 students from 15 different countries. “It was a new experience for me. The training was phenomenal and I learned what it takes to be a digital artist.”

Sheridan is all the more special for Vijay because that is where that he met a faculty member and his wife-to-be, Simi. Soon, he became part of J2K Entertainment Inc., Canada, before floating Bhramma.

Vijay, who is also the technical consultant of Estudiofuture, Spain, and external director of operations of J2K, says that they execute the same work a Hollywood firm would do at a much lesser cost. “We follow a mix and match policy, wherein we have freelancers, heads from abroad and local talent brushing shoulders. The net result is that we ensure quality and cost cutting and get the best of both worlds.”

But what prompted the film production company to set foot in the industry with a Malayalam film? Vijay says with a smile, “It’s been long since we trespassed borders to create aesthetically appealing works. We have clients from as far as Israel and Spain. So these small borders don’t really matter as long as the production we are taking up is worth investing our energy into.”

Further, they are into two more Malayalam projects. “One is in the discussion stage while the other has almost been finalised. ‘Sivapuram’ will give us a fair idea of how things work here,” Vijay says.

And he is confident of doing more projects.

“We have experience in the world market and also the technical know-how. So we are confident of making films that live up to the quality of big-budget films.” Now that is something to cheer about.


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