Ninth-century background. The story of Kathanar in a legendary debt, which has been told many times but is not tired of being heard yet. 30 per cent legend. The rest is imagination. The cinematic setting of ‘Kathanar’ will be created with the latest foreign technology. ‘Kathanar’ is all set to be a milestone in the history of Indian cinema.
Director
Rojin Thomas, the director of the film, says that it is difficult to prepare the background for the 9th-century story as it is set in the 9th century. It is difficult to imagine the situation at that time. Moreover, there are now rules and regulations for filming in the jungle. In the style of foreign films, Kathanar portrays technology in a way that is not realistic. There is a large team lined up for research at various levels to recreate 9th century Kerala. When photographing the forest, the Botanical Research Team was one of them to study all the trees that were in the forest at that time. We have talented technicians among us. With them, the film will be fully embellished with foreign technology. An international film made by the locals. That would be hard work, said Rojin Thomas.
75 crore
It is not a small thing that a movie like Jungle Book, Lion King and Avatar is coming out in Malayalam. Kathanar is the first film to be made in India using the technology used in these films. It is expected to cost around `75 crore. Jayasurya is the hero.
Produced by Gokulam Gopalan, the film is scripted by R Ramanand from Kozhikode who is doing research at JNU. Camera by Neil Dikunja and music by Rahul Subramaniam.
This is a script I have been discussing with Ramanand for two and a half years. When I heard the whole thing I was thinking of how to portray the whole thing. I have faith in director Rojin Thomas. The film is sure to be a new experience, ‘said Jayasurya. The casting and initial work of the virtual production is in progress. Filming in Chennai, Kochi and Rome will begin soon.
Virtual production
Virtual production is a revolution in cinema. This is where gaming technology is technically incorporated into the film language. This is the first time this technology has been used in cinema in India. Kathanar is also the first Malayalam film to make full use of the virtual production method in which the actors do not act directly on location.
Last week, Jayasurya’s body was scanned at several angles with 360-degree cameras (over two hundred cameras) to change her look and appearance. This method, called photo geometry, also helps in pre-visualizing the new look of the movie storyboard. This is the first time in Malayalam cinema that 3D scanning with more than 200 cameras is tried.
DOP Neil DiCunha said the scan would help prepare sequences of scenes and optimize VFX, graphics and effects. The scenes and sequences are completed by combining the live-action footage and computer graphics simultaneously. Pre-production work and principal photography alone will take about a year. Vishnu Raja oversees VFX. Virtual production is controlled by Senthil Nathan.