Director Nag Ashwin has pulled together an impressive team of top-tier technicians for his highly anticipated film, Kalki 2898 AD, especially in the VFX department. Among the notable names is the Canadian VFX company The Embassy, known for their work on blockbuster films like Iron Man, Captain America, and The Hunger Games. In an exclusive interview, VFX supervisor Paul Copeland and compositing supervisor Sami Oms shared their experience working on Kalki 2898 AD.
“We were responsible for around 700 shots in Kalki 2898 AD. Most of our work takes place in a desert wasteland that we were tasked with realizing in CG. The bulk of our work involved creating futuristic vehicles for a high-speed desert chase and an epic battle between the main characters. We used a wide range of visual effects techniques including creating environments, vehicles, weapons, destruction, explosions, digital stunt doubles, and holograms,” Copeland explained.
Copeland added, “Looking at all the original concept art got me really excited to work on this project. Like many of us in the industry, I’m a huge fan of sci-fi, and combining sci-fi with Indian mythology is a brand new concept that I had never seen before.”
The team had several discussions with director Nag Ashwin to align on the film’s vision. “We had some great calls with Nag Ashwin where we went through the artwork they had been creating and discussed the overall look he was going for. We didn’t dive into the mythology aspect too much, but he explained some of the characters’ backstories to help us understand their motivations and roles in our sequences,” Copeland shared.
Oms, reflecting on his experience, said, “While working on the movie, we definitely got the feeling that this will have a massive impact on Indian cinema. It’s a very ambitious project with tons of interesting ideas and a big sci-fi theme, which, as far as I’m aware, hasn’t been done much in Indian movies. It was really cool to be a part of this!”
Copeland also expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “I love learning about mythology from different cultures, and I can’t wait to see how this all translates onto the big screen. I’m a big fan of science fiction, so it’s exciting to be involved in such a groundbreaking film in a genre that may be a little underrepresented in India. Hopefully, Kalki will leave audiences hungry for more.”
Stay tuned to The Cults Bay for more details on Kalki 2898 AD and other films.
