EXCLUSIVE:You might not be familiar withNamit Malhotras name, but the world certainly knows his work.
The hotly-anticipated feature will feature a score collaboration between A.R.
Rahman (SlumdogMillionaire) and Hans Zimmer (LionKing,Dune).
Clockwise Top L-R: Garfield, Namit Malhotra and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian in ‘Those About To Die’Columbia Pictures/Prime Focus Studios/Matteo Graia/Peacock
Malhotra, a services exec by trade, is also upping his producer game.
How did you reach this position in two of the biggest film industries in the world?
My grandfather [M.N.
Timothée Chalamet and Austin Butler battle in ‘Dune: Part Two’Warner Bros. Pictures
Malhotra] was a very eminent cinematographer of his time.
I used to joke that I was probably conceived around a film set somewhere in the world.
As a teenager, my father encouraged me to pursue computer graphics.
I couldnt draw to save my life, so I said no.
Then I sawJurassic Parkin 1993.
I walked out of the theatre, thinking, forget how they made it how did they eventhinkabout that?
It completely blew my mind.
When I was 18, I had a grand idea to bring Star TV to India.
There was interest but my dad said he wouldnt put in any money, so that plan failed.
He said, But thats basically the same thing, right?
One youre doing physically, and the other youre doing digitally.
DEADLINE: And how did you get to Hollywood?
We absolutely started the bare bones of TV, then became the best in TV.
Then we went to the bare bones of advertising, then filmmaking, then Hollywood and always scaled up.
You dont want to just land in the Olympic final straight away.
You want to go through a journey before you participate, but fortunately we kept going.
We are the one of the oldest film industries of the world.
I tried to take that upon myself to say I would build that bridge from East to West.
I dont believe in outsourcing.
Because ultimately, filmmakers dont want cheap quality work for a cheap price.
What is the need for that project?
How do I build a bridge?
DEADLINE: What difficulties did you face in fostering collaboration between Hollywood and your Indian company?
It was incredibly hard to get people to trust us.
While Hollywood is obviously the Mecca of filmmaking, filmmakers generally are very insecure about creative translation.
They dont trust anybody, and like to collaborate again and again with the same people if they can.
Then the Lehman Brothers crisis happened.
I walked into Hollywood and everything fell apart.
Nobody was willing to take risks.
My reason to come to America was not to get rich I was already rich when I came there.
That was my aspiration.
We pivoted to becoming a 3D company, and worked onAvatar,Clash of the Titans,Harry PotterandGravity.
The trust was coming slowly but surely.
In 2014, we acquired DNEG and have since become the Oscar favorite for VFX.
DEADLINE: How did your company navigate the pandemic period and the years after that?
Then the pandemic hit.
After the pandemic we came back and did very well, and then the strike happened.
Suddenly, no content was being made and the industry got shut down.
No new scripts had been written.
Actors couldnt promote their movies.
Animation was not impacted by the writers strike, so we were able to keep ourselves busy.
Ive got thousands of people on payroll.
How do I manage their lives?
We had to find our own solution to keep people gainfully employed through that time.
In 2007, the strikes got called off when the economic crash happened.
Everyone was like, What are we arguing about when the whole financial ecosystem has broken?
At that point in time, when the markets were against you, the writers went on strike.
The strike ideally should have happened in 2020, when the boom happened.
Youre asking for more for more money when the industry is going through a down phase.
Its a bit of a timing mismatch.
Nobodys benefited from the strikes.
Thousands of people around the world are sitting jobless, and productions have been delayed.
Its been pretty hard.
DEADLINE: What happened with the controversial loan scheme that was offered to the employees?
We came up with what I think was a very innovative plan to reduce the impact on peoples lives.
But everything got miscommunicated as if we were forcing people to take a loan.
Im in the middle of a crisis.
Why would I give you a loan?
Im borrowing money to lend you money.
It makes no sense.
We live in a world where misunderstanding is more fun than understanding the positive effort, which is fine.
At the end of the day we were not trying to do anything wrong.
We were borrowing money to make peoples lives better.
Thats also where culturally we are divided.
People in India would happily rather take the pay cut and keep their life going.
People in the West were saying, Listen, if its not working, just sack them.
Every company had layoffs.
We were trying to be a little bit more thoughtful, which was bringing more pushback.
First of all, we didnt do anything wrong.
We didnt force anything on anyone; Its not our place.
The people who didnt take it, I still believe our people didnt understand it.
Sixty-five percent of the people took it.
Nobody will talk about that part in the media.
It is what it is, but were still standing.
Most people are still happy to work with us because theyve appreciated what weve done for them.
We still deliveredDune 2,Oppenheimerand some of our best projects.
Everybodys seen our quality of work, so I dont know the point.
DEADLINE: Now that the strike is over and things are slowly coming back to normal, willthe cutsstop?
Will you hire more people?
Production has still not started as fully as one would have thought.
The 6-8 months of shutdown has taken its toll for almost a year.
The financial reality of the world is still pretty hard, and its not easy sailing as yet.
Clearly [there will be] no more assistance schemes, thats for sure.
Youve been stepping into more into producer roles, like withGarfieldandRamayana.
Yes, were trying to take up more of a leadership position going forward.
Ive tried to analyze it many times could I have averted the pandemic or the strikes?
The year before the strikes was our best year ever.
DEADLINE: So what projects do you have in the pipeline, and how involved are you in them?
Its varying degrees of involvement with every project.Garfieldis out already and doing pretty well.
Production marketing is more or less handled by Alcon Entertainment.
Were filmingRamayana, which will be a global production unlike any other.
Weve begun production onAngry Birds 3with Rovio and SEGA.
Legendary has partnered with us onAnimal Friends, which is in production and will release next year.
Theres no specific pattern.
DEADLINE: Did you expectGarfieldto do so well?
Will we be getting a sequel?
We were always very hopeful aboutGarfield.
The markets are always there, its just that people want something different.
That whole art-versus-commerce logic is always in contention because of that.
Some things work well Spidermanis a great example of something that works well in every generation.
Its less about the subject than it is about the idea.
Its early to confirm a sequel, but if the numbers continue to stay strong, why wouldnt we?
Were all excited about seeing Garfield become a new character in peoples lives.
Am I delivering value for three hours of your life?
When you think of it like that, I feel I have a slightly higher purpose.
DEADLINE: What is next for Prime Focus and DNEG?
Along with content creation, the use of our tech has also become more and more relevant.
DEADLINE: And is there a personal vision you are working towards?
Its not just for my company.
Even if its my competitor and theyve got Indian names attached, its a big deal.
How often do you get to say youre the best in the world?
So for me, that aspiration or that achievement goes beyond everything else.
You have to come from a place of aspiration.
