VFX Oscar win for 'Dune: Part Two': Huge validation, says CEO of VFX firm Namit Malhotra

New Delhi: The Oscars this year had an India connect that few knew about -- Mumbai-based DNEG played a critical role in creating the VFX for Dune: Part Two, which won an Academy Award for Visual Effects. And this, says CEO Namit Malhotra, is one more evidence of India's growing power in the sector.

"The country that does most of the visual effects, more than any other country, is India. There are more Indians working (on VFX) in any major Hollywood film than there are in Indian films. That is a unique reality we are already in," Malhotra told PTI on Monday shortly after the Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles.

Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer won the Oscar in the category for the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi classic. Lambert, in his speech, acknowledged VFX vendors DNEG and Wylie Co, who helped make the land of Arrakis, a fictional desert planet in which the film is set, a reality.

British VFX company Double Negative, which merged with Malhotra's Prime Focus World in 2014 and was rebranded as DNEG, has been part of eight Academy awards -- Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Ex Machina (2014), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), First Man (2018), Tenet (2020), Dune: Part 1 (2021) and "Dune: Part 2" (2024) Malhotra hopes Indian films open up in a big way in the area.

"Our artists and our capabilities are already ahead of what Indian filmmakers are using... We don't have enough big visual led effects projects here and that is where we are hoping to get to the next level." Malhotra is hopeful there will soon be a time when Indian audiences and filmmakers "start to make visual effects a big part of their storytelling and vision".

"It's a matter of time... We will find that opportunity very soon." The Academy Award win for "Dune: Part Two" brought a feeling of validation because it comes from a "competitive group of the people who all have done incredible work", he said.

"To win these awards is pretty complicated. It's a feeling of relief and excitement because we have been validated yet again. There is a lot of joy and positive feeling among the teams across the world." Malhotra said he holds Villeneuve in high regard. They have earlier collaborated with the director in films, including the first part of "Dune".

"We also worked very closely with him on 'Blade Runner' that also got us an Oscar on his film. And when he went on to make 'Dune'... from the first initial phase itself, we collaborated very closely and really sort of took his vision on board and the world he was trying to create," he said, adding that his job is to align the talent and technologies with the vision of the filmmaker.

Asked about Lambert's shout out to DNEG at the Oscars on Sunday, Malhotra said he and the artist go back a long way.

"When he got the Oscar (for 'Blade Runner') he was a DNEG representative and he worked with us for few years and we have done some incredible work including films like 'First Man'... He continues to amaze in terms of his imagination and ability to execute these very diverse types of projects in absolute high quality outcomes." Discussing the AI impact on the industry, Malhotra said it is just another type of technology that is going to power up applications and tech in the way we have done it in the past.

"We see AI as an opportunity because we believe that the ability to create greater efficiency or outcome faster," he said.

Asked about the trouble faced by Technicolour group that led to job losses in the Indian VFX branch of the company, Malhotra said he would not like to comment on their problems but would acknowledge the "artistry and talent".

"From their standpoint, I am sure they had some issues with pandemic and strikes that happened which have caused some issue just between them, their investors and their backers. As far as DNEG is concerned, our prime focus is a relentless pursuit of what we do on day to day basis.

"Developing new talent, investing in new technology. It's going to be 30 years since I have started this. You have to play the marathon and if you train for marathon, you will go much longer and build yourself better. Having a great group of people that you can trust and rely on is critical to the success of any business and any sport. That obviously shows the way our company has been able to navigate all these challenges and been successful at that ride," he said.

Next for Malhotra is the two-part adaptation of "Ramayana", reportedly starring Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Yash.

"'Ramayana' is something very close to my heart. We are not just doing the visual effects but also producing it. It's a complete integration of all the 30 years of my learning of everything I have had in the industry... It's a challenge but we are excited about that and believe that the time has come for Indian stories and Indian culture to now be more recognised at the world level. It's as good as anything else out there," he said.