3D films in South Asia
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3D in India
The first 3D film produced in India, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), was made in Malayalam. Following its phenomenal commercial success it was dubbed into Hindi and released in 1985 as Chhota Chetan. Shiva ka Insaaf (1985) was the first 3D film made-for-Hindi. The 3D trend petered out after that, only to be revived, and brought right into the mainstream, by the success of the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar (2009).
Hindi-Urdu films in 3D after Avatar
Haunted was a success because it was shot in 3D. Don 2 and RA.One did not work because it was converted from 2D to 3D. And yet in the case of Shah Rukh Khan's Ra.One, the 3D version was released in less than 15% of the theatres but it fetched up to a quarter of the revenues in the first week
Dangerous Ishhq, Joker, ABCD, Raaz 3 and Sher Khan are among those that followed with 3D technology.
"It is not easy to shoot in 3D. It takes a lot of time. We can't block such long dates from established stars," said director Shirish Kunder, the maker of Joker which stars Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha.
"So, for a big star cast, it is better to convert the film in 3D from 2D," Kunder, who is also converting Joker from 2D to 3D, said.
But Vikram Bhatt, who is working with some established stars in Dangerous Ishhq and Raaz 3 and had made Haunted, begs to differ.
The budget is crucial.
"The new technology will take time to pick up. Besides, it's a very expensive genre to try," said Kunder.
Bhatt agrees. "As far as the budget of the film is concerned, a 40 percent extra amount has to be put into small films."
Remo said the initial budget for ABCD was Rs.14 crore, but now "the budget has reached about 20.crore. For the first time a production house has spent that much money on a non-star cast film because they believed in the script."
As far as facilities at the theatres to screen 3D films are concerned, Ranjip Thakur, CEO of Scrabble Entertainment, said: "Currently all multiplexes have two screens to show 3D films. On single screens, only those 3D films that were dubbed from English to Hindi have clicked.
Pramod Arora, CEO of PVR, said: "If we have 3D films despite increased ticket rates, we see a 20 percent increase in revenue. So the profit margin goes a little higher. Compared to Bollywood films, Hollywood films are crowd-pullers in the 3D genre because the content from the West is of superior quality."
2012: a revival of the 3D trend in Malayalam cinema
2012 saw a revival of the 3D trend in Malayalam cinema Even the exhibiting theatres and distributors are ready to embrace those inevitable changes by equipping the release centers with modern facilities.
The Mammootty-Prithviraj-Nayanthara team had their first 3D in 'Arival Chuttika Nakshathram', which is directed by Amal Neerad.
The other movie to be made in 3D was the debut directorial venture of famous cameraman Ramachandra Babu, titled as 'Manthrika Thakol'. Dileep who will appear as a magician in the film. Incidentally, Ramachandra Babu was also the cinematographer of the first Cinemascope film 'Thacholi Ambu'and the first 70mm film, 'Padayottam'.
Two horror films in 3D were Vinayan's 'Dracula 2012' and 'Raktharakshassu' to be presented by a group of fresh technicians.
70mm films in India/ South Asia
Cinerama theatres in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
3D films in South Asia
