Ramayana, Varanasi & Raaka: The World-Class VFX Powerhouses Rewriting Indian Cinema’s Future

Indian cinema is no longer playing catch-up with Hollywood — it’s rewriting the rulebook entirely. Three of the most ambitious films currently in production — Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana, SS Rajamouli’s Varanasi, and Atlee’s Raaka — are deploying an unprecedented army of global VFX studios to build breathtaking worlds on screen. Let’s break down who’s behind the magic.

RAMAYANA (Part 1 — Diwali 2026 | Part 2 — Diwali 2027)

Director: Nitesh Tiwari | Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Yash, Sai Pallavi, Sunny Deol

Ramayana is filmed for IMAX and powered by visual effects from DNEG and ReDefine. DNEG This is not a small flex — DNEG is an 8-time Oscar-winning VFX studio and the man behind it is none other than the film’s own producer, Namit Malhotra.

Director Nitesh Tiwari himself admitted that VFX is “giving wings and power” to storytelling, calling it “the wind beneath those wings” — technology so advanced that directors only need to think, and it can be done.

For more on Indian cinema’s biggest box office records, check out TechnoSports’ entertainment coverage.

VARANASI (2027)

Director: SS Rajamouli | Star: Mahesh Babu | VFX Supervisor: Srinivas Mohan

The Varanasi introductory concept video divided the internet — but let the facts speak louder than trolls. Work on the announcement video began in October 2024, and along with Indian studios, teams from around the world were brought in to bring Rajamouli’s vision to life — including Mistyman Studios, Viskefi, Phantom FX, Gimpville, and Meta VFX.

One of the core creative ideas was to present the world of Varanasi in extreme slow motion at 400 fps — instead of the usual 24 fps. Almost every shot is fully CG, yet Rajamouli demanded a completely photorealistic feel, not a stylised look.

So the next time someone calls this “AI-generated” — know that five world-class VFX studios, hundreds of artists across three continents, and nearly a year of production work say otherwise.

RAAKA (TBA)

Director: Atlee | Cast: Allu Arjun, Deepika Padukone | Producer: Sun Pictures

Atlee and Allu Arjun didn’t just hire VFX teams — they flew to Los Angeles and personally visited some of Hollywood’s most elite studios. The VFX of Raaka is being handled by top Hollywood studios, including Legacy Effects, Fractured FX, Spectral Motion, Lola VFX, and ILM Technoprops.

William Wright Anderson of Lola VFX, who worked on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Kalki 2898 AD, praised the script, calling it “unbelievable.” The heads of every studio visited were reportedly blown away — and that’s not marketing speak, that’s coming from people who’ve built Marvel’s worlds.

Stay updated on all the latest from Raaka and Indian cinema on TechnoSports.

This is what a new era of Indian cinema looks like — not one studio, but a global coalition of the world’s best VFX artists working in harmony. Learn more about the history and evolution of visual effects in cinema on Wikipedia.

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