Movies' IT Moment!

INDIAN VISUAL EFFECTS AND ANIMATION COMPANIES MAKE GLOBAL STRIDES, AS DOMESTIC BUSINESS ALSO PICKS UP DUE TO INCREASING OTT PENETRATION.

- RUKMINI RAO

WHEN JAMES CAMERON'S Avatar hit the screens in 2009 and set a record for the highest opening weekend gross for a non-franchise, non-sequel film, two things happened. It set off the craze for 3D movies, and Indian visual effects companies got recognised in Hollywood beyond being low-cost outsourcing shops. The gainer in this case was Prime Focus, an established Indian visual effects company founded in 1997 by Namit Malhotra. It used proprietary software to craft a tenth of the total VFX in Avatar and its wondrous alternative world of Pandora.

Since then, India’s audio-visual and computer graphics (AVCG) companies have worked on many big-budget movie projects such as Avatar 2, Wakanda, Dune, and the series Lucifer. Then came streaming technology, which allowed viewers to watch content of their choice over the internet, and artificial intelligence tools. (No coincidence that, in 2023, when Hollywood actors and writers went on strike, one of their fears was that producers would use AI to edge them out.)

All these mean more business for India’s AVCG industry. The film, television, and online curated content (OCC) industry in India is booming, with revenues rising 18% since FY19 to around $13.1 billion, according to audit firm Deloitte.

A joint report by Deloitte and the Motion Pictures Association, representing top Hollywood studios, says the Indian AVCG industry will double its revenues by 2026. The report, released in May this year, says India’s animation and VFX (AVFX) industry will grow to $2.2 billion by 2026 from $1.3 billion in 2023. By 2032, it will employ 2.3 million people or nearly 10x the number in 2023.