Wednesday 22 August 2012

India's Love Affair with 3d Movies

3D Movies
The Indian movie goers defy global trends. We are addicted to sickly sweet tales of romance, love stories, patriotism and feel good movies – unlike the more serious cinema watchers anywhere else in the world. While the rest of the world has firmly gravitated to realism in cinema, we in India have preferred to remain in our own make believe world. Once in a while we may like gritty tales like “Gangs of Wasseypur”, but our staple cinematic diet still remains “Dabangg” and “Ek Tha Tiger”- all fantastic movies with little in way of realistic bearings.

So, it is little wonder that we seem to have defied convention in another area – 3D movies. Yes sir, the enjoyable movies that you watch with strange, two colored glasses in theaters and laugh when the speeding car seems to be coming directly to you! The worldwide progress in 3d movies has been somewhat inconsistent – to the expected dismay of 3D advocates. Recently, Christopher Nolan, maker of the Dark Knight trilogy, flatly refused to make his latest offering – The Dark Knight Rises – in 3D. With such a powerful vote against it, the 3D lovers club had a very bad day at office. A lot of fans – including me – were also left disappointed – getting to watch something like the Batman in 3D would have been a real treat indeed.

avatar 3d
But then, the positive votes have come from still other successful franchises – The Amazing Spiderman, the Avengers, and of course – Avatar (3D). On the other hand, the Indian scene has, as usual, bucked the global trend. The Indian viewer has displayed an uninhibited liking to the 3D movies – and it is across all segments of population. Even the dubbed versions of older Hollywood movies have done very well. For example, when Titanic was re-released in 3D this April – it garnered very good attention. To the surprise of many, the 3D release did an overall total business of close to Rs 20 crores!

On the heels of the unprecedented success of Avatar and Titanic (3D), the Indian producers have also felt encouraged enough to delve in the 3D medium. So, we have a slew of movies in 3D that are already in the public domain, or will be released soon to the delight of viewers. Indeed, the release of Avatar 3D BluRay has been quite a well-awaited event, and finally the word is out – we will be able to get our hands on it this October! I have cajoled my cousin in the US to send me the disc as a Diwali gift. I would really love to re-explore Avatar in 3D on my LG LM 426700 3D TV!

Raaz 3D
While the previous attempts such as “Chhota Chetan” were the first halting steps, a stampede seems to be in the works. A couple of movies originally shot in 3D have been released – “Dangerous Ishq” being the latest. Then, it has almost become a trend for big movies to have a 3D version also. So, we have had Ra One and Don 2 – both Shahrukh Khan starrers – in 3D versions also. The latest Mahesh Bhatt offering – Raaz 3 – has also been released in 3D. Of the most notable upcoming movies – Krrish 3 is also going to have a 3D version. Overall, things are really looking good for 3D movies in India.

3D TV
And it is not that the trend is limited to Bollywood only. Down South also, 3D is being adopted in a big way. Earlier this year, Kannada movie “Katari Veera Sura Sundaraangi” was released in 3D – and became quite successful at the box office. But no vote of confidence can be as big as when it comes from the Boss himself. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the phenomenon called Rajnikant has also blessed 3D – good days are here indeed! His blockbuster, Sivaji the Boss, will be soon released in 3D (around September 2012). Apparently, the producers did the 3D conversion on the sly, and showed it to Rajini after completing a song sequence. Rajini liked it so well that he saw his own song three times, and that was it!  Now, his upcoming movie “Kochadaiyaan” will also be shot and released in 3D.

In the end, I would like to say that the greater adoption of 3D looks good to me – it is a very enjoyable and fun-filled medium. It takes movie watching to a whole new, immersive level. And with the increasing adoption of 3D TVs, and companies such as LG coming up with a whole new generation of 3D Smart TVs, the interest in 3D is only going to increase. More power to 3D!



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