88 Pictures, a well-known name in the animation industry, has taken a major developmental step of venturing into VFX after just seven years of coming into existence.
Having worked on multiple award-winning projects, the studio’s first VFX project was the Bollywood movie Mission Majnu starring Siddharth Malhotra. The film came into the public domain in January 2023.
88 Pictures revealed this information through its official LinkedIn handle, wherein it shared a brief VFX breakdown video of the movie. The LinkedIn post reads: “Thrilled to announce our foray into the VFX domain for the film Mission Majnu starring Siddharth Malhotra & Rashmika Mandanna produced by RSVP and GBA. Streaming now only on Netflix.”
88 Pictures founder and CEO Milind D. Shinde told AnimationXpress, “Our business plan is to have a presence in all verticals of CGI that include animation, VFX and games. Each of these verticals needs a dedicated focus and has different demands. We took our time to cement our position in the animation segment and now VFX is the next step. Rather than what we will do, the real question is why do we want to do this, especially when the market is so crowded with everyone trying to do everything. We want to differentiate ourselves by offering special expertise and unique VFX solutions. How do you stay relevant and get known for a certain specialty work you do is the goal. This is only the beginning, we like to take things slow and steady, but we do have some long-term plans. The VFX industry is growing and we are sure to create a niche here.“
88 Pictures co-founder and chief operating officer Aby John said, “VFX Division is a natural extension of our creative and technical prowess that has a proven track record across several high-end animation projects that 88 has worked on. While international VFX work will form part of the business, I feel the domestic market is expanding with the need for special expertise and delivering marquee VFX. And that’s where 88 Pictures VFX division comes in. While the Toronto branch will expand to cater to international VFX, I want to develop an India unit to cater to the increasing demands of complex VFX that filmmakers are going for.
“The tech and ways of doing VFX have evolved and the industry is going to witness rapid changes that will ride at the back of Nextgen Tech. My focus is slowly developing these tech solutions and working on projects that are going to be creatively challenging and technically demanding. I guess we don’t know how to do simple things.”
Having delivered services on the award-winning series Trollhunters Trilogy and animated feature Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans and various others, the expectations from the studio VFX will surely be high.
Previously in 2018, with a view to achieving new milestones, 88 Pictures launched its own IP division and in 2022, the studio expanded its footprints in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bengaluru.