MUMBAI: From Abhishek Chaubey, the critically-acclaimed writer and director of ‘Ishqiya’, comes ‘Udta Punjab’, a gritty, crime thriller exploring the drug abuse in Punjab from a number of perspectives: a rock star, a migrant labourer, a doctor and a cop. Prime Focus provided visual effects (VFX), Digital Intermediate (DI) services and camera rental for ‘Udta Punjab’, which stars Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh.

Prime Focus delivered more than 345 VFX shots for ‘Udta Punjab’, including crowd multiplication and LED screen compositing for the ‘Chitta Ve’ song sequence, set extension and enhancement, picture-in-picture (PIPs) and clean-up work. One of the most challenging VFX sequences was a drug injection sequence which required the creation of a surreal dreamlike environment.

“In the scene in which Alia can be seen freefalling against a pitch-black backdrop, the idea was to portray the calming and sedating effect of drugs on a junkie,” commented VFX Supervisor Vishal Kapoor. “Even after grading we weren’t quite satisfied with the static look of the frame, so in order to impart more dreaminess to sequence we added subtle transverse wave motions to help bring the sequence to life.”

The grade of the film varied for each of the main characters - from colourful and vibrant for Tommy (a high-on-drugs, Punjabi rockstar), to earthy and raw for Pinky (a Bihari migrant who works in the fields). A rather cold treatment was given to the scenes featuring Preet and Sartaj - the characters battling the drug menace in the state of Punjab.

“In addition to the overall dark treatment of the movie a grungy texture was added to the drug sequences to bring about the squalid, drug-fuelled underbelly of the region,” said Prime Focus Colourist Aashirwad Hadkar.

Produced under the banner of Phantom Films & Balaji Motion Pictures, which was also the distribution company, ‘Udta Punjab’ released on 17th June 2016.