Indian-led VFX Firm Shines As ‘Dune’ Wins Big At Oscars
New Delhi, March 28: Union Information Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday congratulated Namit Malhotra and DNEG for their stellar work in “Dune” that won in six top categories of the 94th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
“Congratulations to DNEG, VFX & Animation Studio led by CEO Namit Malhotra on winning the #Oscar in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for their team’s work on Dune! India is leading the way in the AVGC sector, we’re geared up to meet the global demand w/ our innovations & talent”, Thakur tweeted after the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday night saw “Dune” win Best Visual Effects.
Speaking volumes about its technical proficiency and production mastery, the composite groundbreaking CGI and various props including helicopters, sand and tons of other models combined with excellent production, the visuals of “Dune” were no less than technical wizardry, that were crafted by DNEG, whose current CEO is founder of Indian VFX company Prime Focus Limited and its non executive director, Namit Malhotra.
Malhotra has merged the two companies earlier and today DNEG is a well known name in the world of visual effects and they are renowned for their stellar work in that field. The company is best known for their groundbreaking work in films which have been renowned for their breathtaking work in visual effects such as “Instellar”, “Inception”, “Blade Runner 2049”, “Dunkirk”, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”, and “Dune”, besides shows such as “Chernobyl”, “Altered Carbon” and “Foundation”.
Under Malhotra’s management, the company has done wonders. At the Oscars 2022 on Sunday, once again, the company’s talents were recognized as “Dune” which became the ultimate winner at the awards went on to win over six awards in the field of crafts, which it all owed to the technical wizardry at the team of DNEG.
Prime Focus merged with DNEG in 2014 and going with their reputation, DNEG won six Oscars before Dune – Tenet (2020), First Man (2019), Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Ex Machina (2015), Interstellar (2014) and Inception (2010).
It is listed on BSE and NSE and was recognised on the ‘Fortune India 500’ list. Malhotra is the eldest son of Bollywood film producer Naresh Malhotra and the grandson of cinematographer MN Malhotra. He grew up in Mumbai, where he completed his schooling at Jasudben M L School in Khar. He is a commerce graduate from HR College of Commerce and Economics.
