‘RRR’ director SS Rajamouli unveiled what is billed as India’s most advanced motion capture facility, the A&M MoCap Lab at Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad.
The facility is a joint venture between Akkineni Nagarjuna’s Annapurna Studios and ‘Baahubali’ producer Shobu Yarlagadda’s Mihira Visual Lab, with Hollywood’s Animatic Film Design, whose credits include ‘Avengers: Endgame’, ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and ‘RRR’, serving as technical partner. During the unveiling, Mr. Rajamouli gave a first glimpse of the institute and confirmed that key scenes of ‘Varanasi’ starring Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Prithviraj Sukumaran are being shot there.
For Rajamouli, the facility fills a long-standing gap in India’s film production infrastructure. “India has always had the world’s best engineers contributing to the world’s leading production, but what India lacked was advanced facilities here at home,” he said. “When I look back at past films like ‘Baahubali’ and ‘Eega’, I wonder how we could have made better films had motion capture technology been available in India back then. With the introduction of motion capture technology at A&M, that gap has finally been bridged. In ‘Varanasi’ we utilized this capability to create key sequences and the results were simply amazing.”
Nagarjuna positioned the film’s release as a milestone for Indian cinema as a whole. “For decades, Indian filmmakers have aspired to tell large-scale stories that rival global standards, but access to high-end technology has often been limited,” he says. “Thanks to A&M, filmmakers can now create everything from epic adventures to complex sci-fi dramas and animated films right here in Hyderabad.”
Yarlagadda, whose Mihira Visual Labs co-developed the facility, described it as part of a broader infrastructure-building effort. “For Indian cinema to truly compete on the global stage, it is essential to create an ecosystem of advanced technology in the country,” he said. “Seeing filmmakers like SS Rajamouli utilize our A&M MoCap facility for ‘Varanasi’ strengthens our belief that the future of Indian storytelling will be driven by homegrown innovation.”
“We are extremely proud that AniMatric’s motion capture technology is powering this groundbreaking facility at Annapurna Studios,” said Brett Ineson, President and CTO of AniMatric Film Design. “Annapurna has long been a beacon of cinematic excellence, and we are partnering with Annapurna and Mihira Visual Lab to create world-class performances. It’s really exciting to bring capture capabilities to India. This collaboration is an important step in enabling filmmakers and creators to tell more immersive and emotionally rich stories.” Equipped with the highest global standards. ”
The lab features a 60 x 40 x 30 foot capture volume with a Vicon Valkyrie VK26 camera that provides sub-millimeter optical tracking accuracy and real-time data streaming via Vicon Live. The setup integrates Unreal Engine for pre-visualization of live virtual production and includes a stereo head-mounted camera unit for high-resolution facial performance capture. Notably, the facility is modular and expandable, allowing it to be disassembled and reassembled on site as production needs require.
CV Rao, CTO of Annapurna Studios, emphasized the utility of the facility as a pre-production tool. “Directors and cinematographers can experiment with camera blocking, lens selection, camera movement, and frame rates in a dynamic virtual environment, allowing them to finalize key creative decisions at the motion capture stage, prior to principal photography,” he said, adding that the approach is designed to minimize costly trial and error during live filming.
The announcement comes as Annapurna Studios celebrates its 50th anniversary. The studio said it plans to open the facility to Indian and international filmmakers, game developers and animation studios seeking production partners in Asia. This is also not the first time that Rajamouli has partnered with Annapurna on a technology milestone, having previously launched India’s first Dolby film processing facility with the same studio.
SS Karthikeya, CV Rao, SS Rajamouli, Brett Ineson, Ben Murray, Srinivas Mohan
A&M Mocap Lab
