Ranbir Kapoor defends 'Ramayana' CGI amid growing scrutiny of visual effects

Actor says artists spent years perfecting the film’s visuals as audiences become more critical of CGI and AI in cinema

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has defended the visual effects and computer-generated imagery (CGI) in Ramayana, saying artists and filmmakers have spent years working on the project.

Speaking to Indian media in an interview, Kapoor said many viewers do not understand the complexities of CGI or the countless hours that go into producing high-quality visual effects. He said the producers and director of Ramayana have been involved in the VFX process since the beginning of the project.

“People don’t know how CG is done. People think someone’s just using some AI and releasing something. You know, there are countless hours of work where artists are working for years,” he said.

Speaking about director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra, Kapoor praised their work ethic and the countless hours they have spent overseeing the film’s visual effects and colour grading.

“I’ve seen Nitesh, Namit sitting on VFX calls ever since the project started, trying to get even a certain colour of the sky right,” he added.

Addressing the growing number of online critics who comment on CGI, Kapoor said there has been a noticeable rise in people scrutinising visual effects in films.

“There’s also a new phenomenon right now that, in the last few years, there has been such a large number of people online who have become CG critics,” Kapoor said.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malhotra added that audiences can sometimes have different expectations after watching a film’s trailer compared with experiencing the finished product in theatres.

“When we launched our previous teaser, we heard a fair amount of noise around some aspects of what we had done. And the same people, when we showed it to them on a big IMAX screen in 3D, all of those conversations changed,” he said.

“Here we are spending years and millions of dollars to try and make something for that big-screen experience that we are waiting patiently to bring to you,” Malhotra added.

Kapoor also acknowledged that audiences are becoming increasingly aware of visual effects, particularly with the rise of AI-generated content.

“I feel like people are getting more aware, especially with the influx of AI. People are getting more interested in how good the CGI is, how good the CGI will finally look,” he said, adding that it has become increasingly challenging to impress audiences with something that feels authentic.

This is not the first time a Bollywood film has been criticised for its use of AI. Just last April, Varun Dhawan’s film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai faced criticism over its use of AI in the trailer, particularly for a sequence featuring AI-generated toddlers.

AFP also previously reported on the rising use of AI shaking up India’s multibillion-dollar film industry, where it was being used to create music videos and an AI-generated feature film.

As audiences become increasingly critical of AI and CGI in films, Ramayana will face heightened scrutiny when it arrives in theatres on November 8.