Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; January 11, 2018)

When A R Rahman announced his directorial debut last year, many expected the project to be a musical for obvious reasons. However, the maestro threw a curveball by stating that Le Musk (below) would be a virtual reality (VR) film, which would use smell for an enhanced immersive experience. The composer, who is currently working on the post- production of the film, is well-aware that releasing it in India will be a challenge since theatres don’t support the virtual reality technology.



“For a short film like Le Musk, I thought VR was the perfect medium. Unfortunately, our theatres are not ready. We don’t have theatres that provide the head-mounted devices required for VR. Being one of the first few to make this kind of cinema comes with its own challenges,” says Rahman.

But he is hopeful that cinema screens will soon offer such an experience. “PVR has opened a VR lounge in Noida, so things are moving in that direction,” he points out. Shot in Rome, the short film features foreign actors like Nora Arnezeder, Guy Burnet and Marian Zohrabyan, and follows the journey of an orphaned heiress and part-time musician, Juliet.

Rahman says that despite the issues, he was convinced about making the film in this format as it is “the next level of cinema.” “I knew about the infrastructure limitations, but certain things require you to just jump in. I faced a similar challenge when I worked on Roja [1992] — I was working in stereo mode when the theatres still had a mono audio system. But things changed after Roja. So, I couldn’t have waited for VR to come to India and then made a film on it. My film will be more like an art installation rather than a regular release.”

After Le Musk, Rahman, who has been appointed the brand ambassador of Sikkim, is keen to helm a film on different Indian classical dance forms. “I’m passionate about that project, but right now, I’m focussed on this.”