As the whole world is now all set to sway to the Avatar magic, I just felt its time that I revisited my journey through 3D cinema over the years. To begin with I would like to stress upon the fact here that this is not supposed to be an elaborate analysis of 3D cinema. For that you can have a look over here. This is a simple personal tale of how I look at Avatar and 3D cinema.
The year was 1984, I was not even 10 years old then but the movie bug had already bit me very hard by then. I used to look forward to the monthly movie or two that we would watch in the theatre and the weekly movies on D.D were very much relished irrespective of the language or genre of the movie. At that time a Malayalam movie called My Dear Kuttichathan (MDK from here on ) got released,which was also later on dubbed into Tamil ( by the same name ) and Hindi ( Chota Chetan ). Produced by Navodaya Appachan and directed by Jijo Punnoose based on the script by Reghunath Paleri, this was a movie meant for kids but which reached out to all segments of audience.
It was simple tale of a few children who come across as a ‘kuttichathan’ (a little genie) and befriend him. Thus begins an adventure ride for the kids which includes a face off with an evil sorcerer. Ilayaraja’s soothing music (Aalipazham Perukaam is such a lovely number) and Ashok Kumar’s cinematography also helped the movie tremendously. I still remember salivating over the visuals of the kids eating ice-creams & the other antics all of which got so well captured on 3D. More than a decade later, in 1997 the movie even got re-released in Hindi with some added elements which included a portion with Urmila Matondkar.
After watching My Dear Kuttichathan I was hooked to 3D like the rest of the country. I remember coaxing my parents to buy me 3D comics and was very upset that we couldn’t have a Binatone 3D T.V at home . Around the same time I also got to watch 2 more 3D films in theatre- Magnificent Bodyguards (MB from here on) and Shiva Ka Insaaf. While MB was the first 3D movie to be made in Hong Kong (1978), Shiva Ka Insaaf was probably the first true blue 3D movie to be made in Hindi. I remember watching MB sometime in 1985/86 and how I was completely mesmerized by the action sequences which looked incredible in 3D.
MB is the story of Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) who gets hired to escort a sick person to a doctor. The journey is treacherous as they have to pass through areas infested by criminals. Chung later finds out that the sick man is actually the leader of the criminals and he is actually on his way to reclaim his leadership position from an impostor. Chung also finds out that the truth behind his father’s murder from and then it soon becomes an exciting action adventure all the way. A few years later I even saw a 2D version of the same movie this time under a totally new title which I somehow do not recollect now.
Shiva Ka Insaaf was the typical Hindi potboiler of the 80’s. A small boy is the witness to the murders of his parents. And then the boy is brought up by friends of his father who train him in fighting and combat. The boy is now rechristened as Shiva and he now becomes the messiah of the people and wants to eradicate all evil and hunt down the killers of his parents. Jackie Shroff was reasonably impressive as the caped crusader. I was even hoping that the makers would try to make this an India superhero franchise, but alas that did not happen.
Though 3D emerged with a lot of fanfare, the spirit also kind of died down rapidly after some of these above mentioned movies. People even began to feel that this was just another passing fad & that this was never supposed to be a threat to conventional 2D cinema. In India especially this was felt so even more for sure. So for a long long time there was absolutely no action in this front. Till IMAX (Image Maximum) Theatres came to India and changed things once again for all of us.
Beginning with IMAX specific films like Deep Sea, Space Station etc which were in 3D, one then finally got to conventional films which then started getting showcased in 3D in the IMAX theatres like The Polar Express and Beowulf. I even went on to watch movies like Superman Returns and Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix in IMAX theatres just because the movies were partially in 3D. By this time we were well into the mid 2000’s and slowly the interest in 3D cinema started getting revived world wide and this time even India was prepared.
So with the release of Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 2008 the scenario completely changed. By then select theatres and multiplexes across India started investing in 3D projection and enabling the movies to get screened in 3D wherever possible. So one began to see a lot of movies releasing in 3D like Monsters Vs Aliens, Bolt, Ice Age- 3, Up, Cloudy with Meat Balls etc. But even while all these movies got released in 2008 & 2009 there were only a handful of 3D compliant screens in India. For example the whole of South India had only 2 screens- Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai and Prasads Imax in Hyderabad being the only privileged ones.
But one film silently has already taken things to the next level and that is none other than Avatar. While the movie was originally planned for a summer 2009 release, it was then pushed back to Dec 18th to enable more screens worldwide to install 3D projectors. That slowly began to set things in motion. On 28th August 2009 in a very unique case of movie marketing there were special previews held across the world where the select crowd got to see a 15 minute footage of the movie in 3D and the excitement only got all the more pronounced. And so more screens across India started getting ready to embrace Avatar in 3D and now the cities joining the race included places like Coimbatore, Madurai, Amritsar, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc.
The Avatar Experience
16th Dec, 2009- I was among the excited set of people who were all set to watch the premiere show of Avatar. After the first few minutes of the usual nittigritties like getting used to the 3D spectacles and allowing the movie to settle in, I sat mesmerized. What I saw on screen in front of me was so visually stunning that I was once again the same school kid who once saw MDK. It’s an open fact that the use of technology in cinema has reached a new height with Avatar.
I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s tryst with Avatar by talking about the plot and certain other mandatory stuff but instead will tell you a bit more about what I felt about the movie. It certainly is visually stunning and very impressive. While there is certainly a decent enough plot, it’s not something all that complicated as its made out to be. At the core lies a simple love story which is backed by great action and some stunning imagery all around. James Cameron has now raised the benchmark so high for the others and for himself that it would be interesting to see whats in store for the coming years.
Sam Worthington continues his good form from Terminator Salvation and will surely make it to the top league with Avatar. That’s good news indeed for his next biggie- Clash of the Titans. Also leaving a good mark on screen is Sigourney Weaver. More than 24 hours after I watched the movie, “I see you” is still buzzing in my ears. Go for it with all earnestness and enjoy the experience. Do watch it in 3D for that’s what would give you the ultimate experience.
I feel with Avatar my association with 3D cinema has just taken a whole new course. I’m looking forward to the way the journey shapes up ahead.
The year was 1984, I was not even 10 years old then but the movie bug had already bit me very hard by then. I used to look forward to the monthly movie or two that we would watch in the theatre and the weekly movies on D.D were very much relished irrespective of the language or genre of the movie. At that time a Malayalam movie called My Dear Kuttichathan (MDK from here on ) got released,which was also later on dubbed into Tamil ( by the same name ) and Hindi ( Chota Chetan ). Produced by Navodaya Appachan and directed by Jijo Punnoose based on the script by Reghunath Paleri, this was a movie meant for kids but which reached out to all segments of audience.
It was simple tale of a few children who come across as a ‘kuttichathan’ (a little genie) and befriend him. Thus begins an adventure ride for the kids which includes a face off with an evil sorcerer. Ilayaraja’s soothing music (Aalipazham Perukaam is such a lovely number) and Ashok Kumar’s cinematography also helped the movie tremendously. I still remember salivating over the visuals of the kids eating ice-creams & the other antics all of which got so well captured on 3D. More than a decade later, in 1997 the movie even got re-released in Hindi with some added elements which included a portion with Urmila Matondkar.
After watching My Dear Kuttichathan I was hooked to 3D like the rest of the country. I remember coaxing my parents to buy me 3D comics and was very upset that we couldn’t have a Binatone 3D T.V at home . Around the same time I also got to watch 2 more 3D films in theatre- Magnificent Bodyguards (MB from here on) and Shiva Ka Insaaf. While MB was the first 3D movie to be made in Hong Kong (1978), Shiva Ka Insaaf was probably the first true blue 3D movie to be made in Hindi. I remember watching MB sometime in 1985/86 and how I was completely mesmerized by the action sequences which looked incredible in 3D.
MB is the story of Ting Chung (Jackie Chan) who gets hired to escort a sick person to a doctor. The journey is treacherous as they have to pass through areas infested by criminals. Chung later finds out that the sick man is actually the leader of the criminals and he is actually on his way to reclaim his leadership position from an impostor. Chung also finds out that the truth behind his father’s murder from and then it soon becomes an exciting action adventure all the way. A few years later I even saw a 2D version of the same movie this time under a totally new title which I somehow do not recollect now.
Shiva Ka Insaaf was the typical Hindi potboiler of the 80’s. A small boy is the witness to the murders of his parents. And then the boy is brought up by friends of his father who train him in fighting and combat. The boy is now rechristened as Shiva and he now becomes the messiah of the people and wants to eradicate all evil and hunt down the killers of his parents. Jackie Shroff was reasonably impressive as the caped crusader. I was even hoping that the makers would try to make this an India superhero franchise, but alas that did not happen.
Though 3D emerged with a lot of fanfare, the spirit also kind of died down rapidly after some of these above mentioned movies. People even began to feel that this was just another passing fad & that this was never supposed to be a threat to conventional 2D cinema. In India especially this was felt so even more for sure. So for a long long time there was absolutely no action in this front. Till IMAX (Image Maximum) Theatres came to India and changed things once again for all of us.
Beginning with IMAX specific films like Deep Sea, Space Station etc which were in 3D, one then finally got to conventional films which then started getting showcased in 3D in the IMAX theatres like The Polar Express and Beowulf. I even went on to watch movies like Superman Returns and Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix in IMAX theatres just because the movies were partially in 3D. By this time we were well into the mid 2000’s and slowly the interest in 3D cinema started getting revived world wide and this time even India was prepared.
So with the release of Journey to the Centre of the Earth in 2008 the scenario completely changed. By then select theatres and multiplexes across India started investing in 3D projection and enabling the movies to get screened in 3D wherever possible. So one began to see a lot of movies releasing in 3D like Monsters Vs Aliens, Bolt, Ice Age- 3, Up, Cloudy with Meat Balls etc. But even while all these movies got released in 2008 & 2009 there were only a handful of 3D compliant screens in India. For example the whole of South India had only 2 screens- Sathyam Cinemas in Chennai and Prasads Imax in Hyderabad being the only privileged ones.
But one film silently has already taken things to the next level and that is none other than Avatar. While the movie was originally planned for a summer 2009 release, it was then pushed back to Dec 18th to enable more screens worldwide to install 3D projectors. That slowly began to set things in motion. On 28th August 2009 in a very unique case of movie marketing there were special previews held across the world where the select crowd got to see a 15 minute footage of the movie in 3D and the excitement only got all the more pronounced. And so more screens across India started getting ready to embrace Avatar in 3D and now the cities joining the race included places like Coimbatore, Madurai, Amritsar, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Jaipur etc.
The Avatar Experience
16th Dec, 2009- I was among the excited set of people who were all set to watch the premiere show of Avatar. After the first few minutes of the usual nittigritties like getting used to the 3D spectacles and allowing the movie to settle in, I sat mesmerized. What I saw on screen in front of me was so visually stunning that I was once again the same school kid who once saw MDK. It’s an open fact that the use of technology in cinema has reached a new height with Avatar.
I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s tryst with Avatar by talking about the plot and certain other mandatory stuff but instead will tell you a bit more about what I felt about the movie. It certainly is visually stunning and very impressive. While there is certainly a decent enough plot, it’s not something all that complicated as its made out to be. At the core lies a simple love story which is backed by great action and some stunning imagery all around. James Cameron has now raised the benchmark so high for the others and for himself that it would be interesting to see whats in store for the coming years.
Sam Worthington continues his good form from Terminator Salvation and will surely make it to the top league with Avatar. That’s good news indeed for his next biggie- Clash of the Titans. Also leaving a good mark on screen is Sigourney Weaver. More than 24 hours after I watched the movie, “I see you” is still buzzing in my ears. Go for it with all earnestness and enjoy the experience. Do watch it in 3D for that’s what would give you the ultimate experience.
I feel with Avatar my association with 3D cinema has just taken a whole new course. I’m looking forward to the way the journey shapes up ahead.
Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/y6ahzay
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