International
Special effects outsourcing grows in India
MUMBAI: Outsourcing to India, long dominated by software engineering and back-office work, is expanding in new terrain: special effects for movies.
India‘s rise comes at a difficult time for U.S. special effects outfits, some of which have buckled as the 2008 L.A. writers strike cut productions and the financial crisis curtailed financing. Executives in India say cost pressures are pushing studios to send more work to India, where special effects projects are up to 40 percent cheaper than in the U.S.
To be sure, Indian shops are, for now, minor players.
Hollywood‘s special effects industry is still dominated by U.S. companies like Industrial Light & Magic. Production standards are generally lower in India, and many moviemakers still won‘t send creative work thousands of miles (kilometers) away.
But the distance between Hollywood and Bollywood is narrowing, and many say it‘s only a matter of time before the gap in skills, trust, and quality is closed. The domestic market is also maturing as Indian audiences develop a taste for high-tech Hindi flicks.
“Economic conditions are playing out favorably for us,” said S. Nagarajan, the chief operating officer of Visual Computing Labs, based in Mumbai, the visual effects and animation unit of Tata Elxsi, one of India‘s most prominent studios. “People are more willing to experiment.”
His company, one of 18 special effects studios that worked on “Spider-Man 3,” has billed as much in the first three months of this year as it did in nine months last year, he said.
For Spiderman 3, Tata Elxsi VCL cut out studio stunt shots of Spiderman and sent them back to California, where they were fit into urban landscapes so the hero appeared to be swooping in death-defying arcs from one tall building to another.
Khandpur said smaller production companies have been more willing to send over complex shots. For One Night with the King, a 2006 movie about the biblical figure of Esther, the young Jewish woman who became the queen of Persia, VCL used computer software to create and people entire landscapes, filling the land with castles, waterfalls, and hundreds of horsemen, elephants and villagers.
In the last few years a string of acquisitions and new ventures have started to build the relationships and expertise India needs to become a more of a destination for such higher-end work.
Two old Hollywood hands recently opened visual effects companies in Mumbai: Geon, founded by The Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne, and EyeQube Studios, headed by Charles Darby whose credits include Titanic and the HBO series Rome.
Darby set up EyeQube with backing from the U.K.‘s Eros International and plans to release his first film Aladin – an effects-driven live action film featuring top Bollywood talent – in July.
International
Russia-India cinematic spectacle Persimmon of My Love set for grand Moscow debut
Hindi cinema style musical revives Indo-Soviet cinema ties for today
MUMBAI: A new chapter in cross-border storytelling is set to unfold as Persimmon of My Love gears up for its premiere in Moscow on 1 April 2026, marking the first large-scale cinematic collaboration between Russia and India in decades.
Positioned as a modern nod to the cultural exchange that once brought Indian classics to Soviet audiences, the film blends Hindi cinema flair with Russian storytelling, aiming to rekindle a long-standing cinematic friendship.
Directed by Marius Weisberg, the musical comedy follows two brothers navigating a lively world of music, family and romance. The lead roles are played by Demis Karibidis and Mikhail Galustyan, with Karibidis also contributing as a screenwriter.
Shot entirely in India, the production leans heavily into Hindi cinema style spectacle. Filming took place across Mumbai studios and the cities of Udaipur and Jodhpur, whose architecture was used to create the fictional setting of Khurmada. A crew of over 350 worked on the project, with large-scale sequences featuring up to 1,000 extras.
The film also brings Indian creative talent into the mix. Dance sequences are choreographed by Jay Kumar, while music by Zurab Matua features songs in both Hindi and Russian, adding to its cross-cultural appeal.
Backed by TNT channel, MyWayStudio and the Russian Cinema Fund, the project reflects a broader push to strengthen cultural ties between the two countries.
With its mix of colour, comedy and cross-border collaboration, Persimmon of My Love is not just a film release but a reminder that cinema, much like music, travels well across borders.
