For Vikram Bhatt's upcoming 3D thriller, Creature, the VFX specialists had their job cut out as the director had the art-work of his monster ready. “Right from its height and texture to the colour of its skin, Vikram knew how his creature should look like, from head to tail. He sculpted it, we just fine-tuned,“ says KV Sanjit who supervised the special effects at Chennai-based Prasad EFX, assisted by over 50 technicians.

Sanjit has been working with Vikram for over six years. When they met for the first time to discuss this project, he narrated the concept. As part of the research which went in creating the Brahma Rakshas, a 10-feet mutant, the team collected images from magazines and online platforms. “We would improvise on pencil sketches when we got more details and Vikram would mark his corrections,“ the VFX supervisor recalls.

After much brainstorming, they zeroed in on the final image ­ a muddy brown man-beast hybrid with crocodile-like skin and a needle-studded spine. “Generating the anatomy on a computer was both exciting and tedious. We also had to make it run, jump and crawl,“ says Sanjit.

Films like Godzilla, Jurrasic Park and Anaconda served as references but none of the shots are borrowed from them. “The concept of the Brahma Rakshasa originates in Indian mythology so we didn't have to look for a muse elsewhere,“ he reasons.

And how did Bipasha Basu face the beast? “While shooting, a man would act out what the creature would be doing on screen. He'd screech and howl. Once Bipasha got a hang of it, her reactions were bang on,“ he says. The 'extra' was dressed in green and blue suits so that during the VFX process it could merge with the background.

And how did he work the stereoscopic 3D? “I have been doing that since Haunted so we had better control over the shots. Since the horror element is on a bigger scale, I won't be surprised to hear the audiences shrieking during the shows,“ he prophesises.