3-D set for second screen innings

MUMBAI: Duck. Eyeballs will pop out of actors’ heads to land on your lap. Knives will swing deliriously in front of your nose, upon which will be perched coloured spectacles. Two decades after the sensational Chhota Chetan , another Indian 3-D movie is set to hit the screens: a children’s film titled Chhota Jadugar.
Directed by Jose Punnoose and produced by Navodaya Films, who made ‘Chhota Chetan’, the movie is set to open on April 11 in theatres across the country.Chhota Jadugar showcases the adventures of young Indrajit, who practices magic on the streets of New York and tries to find ways to be reunited with his magician grandfather in India. The child protagonist is played by Suraj S. Balajee, who was also cast in Santosh Sivan’s Asoka . Singer-actor S.P. Balasubramaniam plays the grandfather.
Chhota Chetan made Rs 60 crores when it first was released in 1984 and raked in another Rs 50 crore when it was re-released in 1997. The producers doubtless are hoping to create even greater magic with this new film. While the fantastic nature of the story itself, with its magic theme and animal characters, suits the 3-D medium, the graphics and digital sound promise to make it a special-effects treat. “I have used the 3-D just as an enhancement to a movie that has an enchanting plot,’’ said Mr Punnoose. “Chhota Jadugar’ was originally conceived in 1985 as a 2-D movie, but over time it evolved into a 3-D project.’’ Mr Punnanose said that the technical difficulties of making 3-D films have discouraged more filmmakers from experimenting with the format.
“The principles of stereoscopy, the optical limitations of 3-D lenses and the composition of the frame with the third dimension in mind and other such technical skills are necessary,’’ he said. Besides, a lot more footage has to be shot than for conventional films, so the process takes longer. Navodaya Film Production has specialist teams that visit theatres to install projection facilities such as special silver screens and imported lenses. They also distribute the 3-D glasses. This is tedious, expensive process also discourages Indian film-makers from going 3-D. Still, it isn’t as all subjects are suitable for 3-D treatment. “Its novelty has to be maintained, used three-four times, maybe in children’s films. Else it will lose its charm,’’ observed distributor Manmohan Shetty.
Campion School student Ameya Naik has his own ideas about how the medium can be made more effective. “There are a lot of good children’s films such as Lion King, which, if adapted to 3-D, will make movie viewing more interactive,’’ he said. “If, for example, the animals singing the song ‘Circle of Life’ pranced around amidst the audience, it would make things so much more fun.’’ Though some worry about damage to the eyes from the special glasses viewers must wear, eye specialist Keki Mehta clarified that the spectacle may cause a little bit of irritation to some. “But since the films are usually short, there is no real damage done,’’ he said.
However, he warned that people who normally wear spectacles should take care to wear these 3-D glasses over their spectacles to avoid headaches. Internationally, the 3-D film reached its peak in the US in the ‘50s with movies like Bwana Devil, the first full- length 3-D film in which wild animals walked off the screen to brush shoulders with the audience. However, experts say later experiments with an overwhelming pre-occupation with visual gimmicks and indifference to story-telling caused the genre to fade.