Deconstructing the VFX of Ajay Devgn’s Singham Returns

Gateway of India crowd multiplication With Singham Returns, Rohit Shetty became the first filmmaker to shoot at the Gateway of India, after the terror attacks of 26/11. Although the support his film received from the police force did go a long way in aiding the acquisition of permissions, Read More">it was not by any means anRead More

Gateway of India crowd multiplication

With Singham Returns, Rohit Shetty became the first filmmaker to shoot at the Gateway of India, after the terror attacks of 26/11. Although the support his film received from the police force did go a long way in aiding the acquisition of permissions, it was not by any means an easy shot, "The Gateway sequence was something that we usually do, in terms of crowd multiplication and matt painting. However it was a bit tricky since it's a night shot, so on one hand we had a small crowd gathered that had to be well lit and multiplied and on the other, the façade of the Taj hotel that had to be brightened as well. Maintaining an equal light level was crucial", explains Naveen.

Adding realism to the stunts Apart from the above there were a multiple other sequences that required attention especially the stunt scenes that Rohit Shetty has since become synonymous for. “In fact I shoot all my stunts with minimal effects, for example the explosions actually feature a car going up in flames, Read More">that obviously areRead More

Adding realism to the stunts

Apart from the above there were a multiple other sequences that required attention especially the stunt scenes that Rohit Shetty has since become synonymous for. "In fact I shoot all my stunts with minimal effects, for example the explosions actually feature a car going up in flames, that obviously are later enhanced in CG", says Rohit, "But for the scene where Ajay gets blown into a standing Bolero and falls, it was a matter of ego since I was told that I could not recreate the same sequence from Mission Impossible."

"The interesting way we did that was, also thanks to Ajay Devgn who knows his way with stunts. We actually had him running while strapped to bungee cords, and once he reached a certain point he was pulled to hit the Bolero. Then later we removed the thick mattresses that broke his fall", explains Rohit.

"However for the end sequence where the police van is hit into the electric generator, we hardly had any effects added. The only post process work done on that sequence was merging the layers to look as one, apart from that the sparks that flew and the van hitting the electric generator was real," adds Rohit.

Reay Road action sequence “Another sequence that took time was the Reay Road action sequence with Anupam Kher and Ajay Devgn embroiled in a gun battle. The reason why this took time was the plain fact that though we shot the sequence at Reay Road, Read More">the whole look and feel of the surroundings was moreRead More

Reay Road action sequence

"Another sequence that took time was the Reay Road action sequence with Anupam Kher and Ajay Devgn embroiled in a gun battle. The reason why this took time was the plain fact that though we shot the sequence at Reay Road, the whole look and feel of the surroundings was more town like", explains Naveen. Further elaborating, "When we shot at Reay Road, the surrounding visuals consisted of mills, which frankly didn't look too appealing. So we changed the entire visual, replacing the mills with a more metropolitan feel of buildings. Simultaneously we added the train element, which made it seem like its shot alongside a moving train. Besides this there was the fact that we had to also negate the crowd presence that stemmed from audience gathering to watch a film shoot."

"Besides this we also had to be research about muzzle fire and the recoil, especially since it was an action sequence that had multiple weapons. With this each shot from any weapon looks more realistic", adds Naveen.

Today after numerous advancements in filmmaking directors and storytellers have myriad options to enhance the overall viewing experience for the audience. The recently released Ajay Devgn – Kareena Kapoor starrer Singham Returns, Read More">directed by Rohit Shetty is a perfect example of the progress made in the field of visual enhancements. While most people have watchedRead More

Today after numerous advancements in filmmaking directors and storytellers have myriad options to enhance the overall viewing experience for the audience. The recently released Ajay Devgn - Kareena Kapoor starrer Singham Returns, directed by Rohit Shetty is a perfect example of the progress made in the field of visual enhancements. While most people have watched and enjoyed the film, not many have looked deeper. Bollywood Hungama caught up with director Rohit Shetty himself and Naveen Paul the Creative Head of VFX to know more about what went into the making of Singham Returns.

Bandra Worli Sea Link

The film starts off with a shot of the Bandra- Worli Sea Link, and later even features a massive action sequence. Interestingly while reviews have stated that the shot has been executed with aplomb, Shetty has a different view, "The funny part about this shot is that we never really shot at the sea link. Despite having backing from the Police force, shooting there is not permitted. Hence we had to develop the entire sea link in CGI".

A daunting task by any means, "We did multiple trips up and down the sea link shooting small videos that captured the look of the road, the suspension wires, the water, the surrounding views, and everything. Later we even took shots from high rises in Worli to capture the movement of vehicles and water on and below the bridge. Once this was done, we developed a physical 3D model of the bridge and later adapted the same to film with CGI and added the necessary textures to get that authentic feel", explains Naveen Paul.

"The whole process of developing the sea link was by far the most time consuming task as we had to get every detail right. Especially since each scene was shot separately and later had to be merged one layer at a time," comments Naveen on the painstaking task of layer compositing.