Thursday 2 March 2017

ANOTHER FEATHER IN THE CAP OF MAAC CHOWRINGHEE

MAAC Chowringhee as a leading Animation, VFX & Multimedia training institute in Kolkata, was wearing a very plain & simple cap on his head.

With the success of its students this cap is becoming more and more beautiful every day. Another feather of success has been added to this cap by one of its ex student Mr. Abhishek Ghorui ,who is working with  MPC, Bangalore as a Digital Artist since more than three years & growing in the field each day.

Earlier his claim to success was being a part of the epic Oscar winning film “Life of Pi” followed by, now, another Oscars in VFX for the Hollywood Blockbuster  “The Jungle Book”.

His recent success found him a place on the front page and the second page of The Time of India, Kolkata Edition on 28th Feb ’17.



The article is attached herewith, which is self explanatory, and is a inspiration to all youngster aspiring  to have a successful and Dream Career in this wonderful world of Animation and VFX.


All eyes were on the Academy Awards on Monday and as the clock ticked, a collective groan went up as `Lion’, a major part of which is based in Kolkata, lost out on the golden statuette.

However, `Jungle Book’ -that captures young Mowgli’s heroics in an Indian jungle -bagged the Oscar in the `Visual Effects’ category , giving Bengal a reason to cheer.

Digital artist Abhishek Ghorui of Durgapur, who was part of a Bangalore team that worked on the movie’s VFX, is now waiting to hold the statuette a second time in four years.

As part of the `Life of Pi’ team, he was one of the privileged ones to pick up the Oscar when it was brought down to the company he works for in 2013.

“I was part of the roto-prep department in `Jungle Book’. For example, when Mowgli is moving, the animal characters shown on screen -be it Bagheera or Baloo -are in reality dummies or actors in suits.

Our job was to prepare these figures such that they can be seamlessly replaced with CGI,“ said 30-year old Abhishek.

His dream run hasn’t been smooth.Rather, it was pockmarked with hurdles.After completing a course at a Park Street centre, he boarded a train to Mumbai to try his luck and took shelter in a friend’s room, handing out pamphlets to earn a little.

Multiple interviews at animation studios later, he finally got a call and landed his first screen credit with `Tron: Legacy’ (in 2010 as digital compositor).

“When the time came to decide on a career, he said everyone is aiming to be a doctor or engineer but he wants to pursue his dream. I was scared as we had no contacts in Mumbai but he’s so strong mentally , everything has fallen into place,“ said his father Subhash Chandra Ghorui, a retired coal official.

“After Plus 2, I had taken up computer science at a college under Calcutta University . But programming didn’t attract me at all. So I decided to give VFX a go.When two of the films I has worked for were nominated, I was hopeful to be part of Oscar history . But the surreal moment came when `Life of Pi’ bagged the top prize and the statuette was brought to our office,”  Abhishek told TOI on Monday .

While he waits to get close to the golden icon, this time it could be double the dizziness. “We won the BAFTA earlier this month and it’s likely the two awards will travel together to the country,“ he said. Of course, he wouldn’t miss a photoop for the world.

A lot has changed between `Pi’ and `Jungle book’. “I got married, for one.Then, career-wise, whereas I was an artist, I am now the show leader for my team,“ Abhishek reflected.

The Durgapur boy is now waiting for Alien: Covethe release of Ridley Scott’s ` nant’, where he is credited as a digital artist.

The legendary Scott, who has so far been nominated four times for his masterpieces ((Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and The Martian), is yet to bag an Oscar.

Will Abhishek turn out to be his lucky charm next year?

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