Rc. Kamalakannan is probably the most important person in team Baahubali for one of many reasons — thanks to him, the film’s unit heaved a huge sigh of relief 10 days before release, as he wrapped up the movie’s VFX. “This was one of the most difficult films I have worked on, be it in terms of scale or complexity. I was sceptical about making it on time. But now we’ve got breathing space and leisure for corrections too! I can’t be more elated,” he shares.
For nearly 18 months his team and him have been working against the clock to ensure the film is delivered on time because for Baahubali, VFX is the most crucial element. “More than 35 studios and their thousands of VFX artistes alongside a fleet of freelancers from India and around the world were employed. For the first film, there were around seven or eight VFX scenes but this film had nearly 29! That was triple the amount but it had to be achieved in half the time given to the first film. It was no easy task,” he tells us, adding, “But the film’s name helped a lot. I had approached the country’s leading VFX studio to work on a scene for which no one was able to get it right, and despite being busy with Hollywood projects, they eagerly took up our work! In that sense, Baahubali brought together the VFX industry in India as almost every studio across the country was working on it! I don’t know if I can manage something like this ever again.”
Interestingly, he had teamed up with director S.S. Rajamouli for Magadheera and Eega but couldn’t work on Baahubali: The Beginning as he was working on another film at that time. “You know when you travel with someone for so long and suddenly miss an opportunity to go ahead with them, it’s a kind of weird feeling. When I saw the film, the feeling of having missed out loomed high on me. But things worked out in such a way that I got to work on the sequel,” shares Kamalakannan, adding that he is now keen to see the film in one piece, as he saw it in parts.
