Abhishek Bachchan SLAMS Raja Shivaji VFX Comparisons With Hollywood: 'They Spend Over ₹5,000 Crore Just On It; We Can't...'

Actor Abhishek Bachchan, who was recently seen in Raja Shivaji as Sambhaji Shahaji Bhosale, the elder brother of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj played by Riteish Deshmukh, reacted to the backlash surrounding the film's VFX and said people often compare Indian films to Hollywood despite the massive difference in budgets.

Abhishek Bachchan On Raja Shivaji VFX Backlash

He added that the more time and money invested in VFX, the better the final output looks, while stressing that time constraints also become a major challenge for filmmakers. Raja Shivaji, co-written and directed by Riteish, was made simultaneously in Marathi and Hindi on a reported budget of Rs 75-100 crore, making it the most expensive Marathi film ever produced.

'Riteish Deshmukh Made Raja Shivaji Within Tight Budget'

Speaking to News18, Bachchan said, "Maybe the common man doesn’t know but VFX is a very fine art but it’s a rain card. The more time you give it, the better it’s going to look. The more money you can pile into your VFX, the better the quality. People have to understand that at the end of the day, Riteish and Genelia (Deshmukh) have made a Marathi film within a very tight budget."

'We Probably Work Here At 1% Percent Of That At Best For Our VFX'

He added that in Hollywood, studios probably spend over Rs 5000 crore on VFX alone, apart from the overall budget of the film, and said Indian films simply cannot compete at that scale because 'that’s not our market.'

Abhishek said Indian films probably work at barely one percent of Hollywood’s VFX budgets and stressed that the quality ultimately depends on how much money and time can be invested. He added that Riteish, as both producer and director, eventually had to decide how much more time he could devote to the film, saying that if they were given ten years, they would deliver a brilliant product, but filmmakers in India simply do not have that luxury.

“Those ten years will also cost a lot of money. But can a film afford it? You don’t want to burden a film in that way. Had Riteish had the liberty to go and spend a thousand crore on VFX, it would be a long road. You’ve to understand that checks and balances always happen," added Bachchan.

Abhishek Bachchan Feels VFX Criticism Will Be Forgotten

Lastly, Abhishek said that while people tend to criticise such things, he applauds Riteish's vision, stressing that Raja Shivaji was always about telling an emotional story. He added that VFX criticism will eventually be forgotten, but people need to understand whether the film could realistically afford that scale and whether the makers achieved what they had set out to do by effectively conveying the story, "and the answer is yes."