Producer Sohum Shah, whose dark fantasy film “Tumbbad” opened the Venice Critics’ Week here, says he faced several obstacles to make the movie, even as people around him constantly expressed doubt that it will ever get made. Asked what were the obstacles in making “Tumbbad”, Shah told variety.com: “A lot of constant difference of opinion, a lot of creative talent walking in and out of the film at different points for various reasons, finding enough money for all the re-shoots, there have been numerous obstacles.
Shah said that all the VFX scenes in the film were shot twice, yet “we were not happy with the results so additional money was needed to fix them digitally from scratch. “To stick to the ambition of making a film of this scale one has to invest in good music and all other technical necessities without sparing any expense. And then of course there was always this constant pressure and doubt from everyone around that the film may never get finished,” he added.
Even to get partners on board was very difficult, Shah told variety.com. “No one would understand the film just by reading the script or just by looking at a rough cut with no final music, VFX, sound and grading, especially because there is no specific precedence for a film like this… That is why I had to take the risk of just create the finished product first by putting in all my investments and then hoping people would like it,” he added.
“Tumbbad” was the Venice Critics’ Week’s out-of-competition opening feature. It is a dark tale of greed and obsession set in the 19th Century, but made with the richest 21st Century visuals. Critics’ Week head Giona A. Nazzaro described the film as a “visionary fantasy film, a parable about greed that travels at the speed of an Emilio Salgari’s story shot by Steven Spielberg, rich in visual inventions, special effects and blood”. Directed by Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad, the film was made as multinational effort that reflects the changing approaches towards co-operation and co-productions being adopted by India’s independent filmmakers.
