12-12-12: Rajni back as Sivaji the '3D' Boss, and how!

BANGALORE, INDIA: South Indian superstar Rajnikanth's Sivaji - The Boss has returned to the big screen today, after almost half a decade. In a 3D avatar, this time around.

As in the case of the iconic Hollywood blockbuster Titanic, this is said to be the first time an Indian 2D film is being converted into 3D format.

AVM Studios, which produced the film, has joined hands with the EFX division of Prasad Studios, Chennai, to recreate the Sivaji magic. Believe it or not, about 400 technicians from the renowned EFX studio - Prasad Video Digital & EFX - have worked for over a year just to convert the film to 3D.

Apparently, the head of the division, Sai Prasad had the germ of the idea and took it to AVM to get its consent. "The challenge was to retain the original quality, the original detailing. We spared no efforts, didn't compromise anywhere, and we hope the end product will speak for itself," Prasad was quoted saying.

The studio's slew of EFX services includes digital intermediate, digital film restoration, stereoscopic conversion, 3D movie-making solutions and 3D post. Just to get the narrative taut, it has trimmed the running time by about 45 minutes from the actual 3.15 hours.

The studio is believed to have employed stereo conversion to produce stereo images from non-stereo traditional 2D images, a standard that is used globally for recreating older films in 3D.

Instead of the normal conversion that involves retaining only the left eye images, for studio Prasad EFX has restored images of both eyes.

The studio boasts of Rotoscopy, Matchmove, Touchup, Clean Plats and Compositing services and has employed the cutting-edge technologies for the conversion.

In Sivaji, those who had a preview rave that songs and some stunt effects have been dramatically recreated, including the famous coin-flipping sequence in the lead-up to the interval and Vaaji, Vaaji song.

The movie, in its new avatar, would also have Atmos sound design that produces an effect like sound moving within and across the auditorium. In Chennai, Serene at Sathyam Cinemas has installed Dolby Atmos sound systems at Rs. 20 lakh during the beta testing stage, thus getting a rare distinction of the only movie hall in India and one among the 100 theatres around the world to have it.

How is it?