Barrie M Osborne, the legendary producer of Hollywood blockbusters like The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and Face-Off will partner with N Madhusudhanan, a visual effects veteran in the India to co-found a visual effects studio in India which will cater to the global industry. And he is all set produce his next blockbuster from India. "The joint venture will be fully functional six months from now. Our first movie will be based on the best-selling novel The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. It will be a $100 million, big budget film," Madhusudhanan said.
On his first visit to India, Osborne said he was impressed with Indian films. "I believe that India has a great potential to make world-class films," he said. Films like Monsoon Wedding and Bend it like Beckham have proved that Indian films have an international appeal, he said at the inaugural session of the annual entertainment event FRAMES 2005, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
The studio that Osborne plans in India will be on the lines of the famous Weta Digital in New Zealand which is renowned for its work for The Lord of the Rings. Madhusudhanan is a President's Award winner in the visual effects field. He was part of the visual effects team for The Lord of the Rings. Asked whether there will be more partners in this venture, Madhusudhanan said: "Right now, it is just me and Osborne in this joint venture."
Madhusudhanan also plans to rope in a few more Academy Award winners as partners for our studio. Hollywood is opening up, he said, and very soon a lot of the visual effects work is outsourced to India. The creative duo hopes to capitalise on the big opportunity of visual effects work outsourced to India. "With the development of technology, I am confident that there will be more developments in India," said Osborne. Saying that he is a big fan of the Asia-Pacific region, Osborne said, "There will be a paradigm shift in the entertainment sector in India. Soon India will also have significant catalysts, just like Lord of the Rings was for catalyst in New Zealand."
Osborne added that the capabilities and original content existed in India and he is in talks with Indian producers and directors. I hope India will produce more films with international appeal, he said. "I'm working with Shekhar Kapur in his forthcoming film Paani and I hope the industry will come forward to financially support such ventures, he said. With many successful ventures to his credit, the forthcoming film based on The Alchemist is also slated to be a big hit, but this time his film will have a 'Made in India' tag.
