Yash Raj is going all out to protect the look of 'Dhoom 3', starring Aamir Khan, Katrina Kaif andAbhishek Bachchan, from leaking into the media.
Last week, Yash Raj officials issued a directive to Prime Focus, the company entrusted with the job of colour correction and editing of the visual effects for the film. According to the directive, the colour correction and editing of the VFX footage will not be done at the Prime Focus studio but inside the YRF premises where a makeshift studio will be erected. The required machines have to be shifted there along with the team involved in the project
A source said, "YRF feels that there is a risk if the colour correction and editing is not done under their supervision. They seem to be apprehensive that too much information on Dhoom 3would leak out.The security deployed is to be seen to be believed," added the source.
Confirming the step, business head of Prime Focus Neeraj Sanghai explained, "YRF doesn't want any footage of Dhoom 3 to get leaked."
A similar directive was sent to Tata Elxsi Ltd, who has been assigned to do the VFX for the film. However Tata officials had refused to shift base. The source said, "It is because the work Tatas is doing would have required at least 200 men to be present in Yash Raj, which would have been terribly inconvenient and chaotic."
For mega-budget Hollywood films, especially those featuring superheroes or heavy doses of CGI, it has almost become the norm to have an Imax (a special, higher-resolution format) release. Now, two major action films in Bollywood - Rakesh Roshan’s Krrish 3 (starring Hrithik Roshan) and Yash Raj Films' (YRF) Dhoom:3 (starring Aamir Khan in the lead) - have been vying for Imax releases.
But with both films slated to release towards the end of the year, Roshan's film is the one that has had to compromise with the format. A trade source says, "Rakesh Roshan wanted to release the movie in Imax. However, Aditya Chopra made the first move. He seems to have a deal with Imax, as per which, Dhoom:3 will be the first Bollywood release in that format, resultantly blocking any other film attempting the same."
Earlier, almost a decade back, Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal was the first Indian film to attempt an Imax format, but it never released.
In May, Aditya Chopra, chairman, YRF, reportedly said, "Since announcing the Imax release of Dhoom:3, we've seen tremendous anticipation around this first-ever Imax release of a Hindi feature film."
The source adds, "For an Imax release, you first need to digitally convert it for the huge screen with an extremely high resolution. The process takes two to three months."
When contacted, Rakesh simply says, "I did have plans of releasing the film in the Imax format. However, since it will take two months to convert it, that’s no longer possible for us to do that. We don't have that kind of time."
