This low-budget film did better VFX than Adipurush, Brahmastra, Marvel, DC in just Rs 80 crore, no foreign crew, won...
A film with a budget of just Rs 80 crore managed better VFX and CGI than even Marvel and DC films, let alone the likes of Adipurush and Brahmastra
As films have gotten bigger and bigger over the years, the budgets of some of the biggest blockbusters have rivalled the revenues of big corporations. The visual effects – or VFX – have often taken the lion’s share of budgets in big films. In this milieu, when a low-budget film manages to outdo the big guns in terms of scale and visual effects, it is a surprise. That is exactly what one Japanese blockbuster did in 2023 and created history.
The film with the world’s best VFX in just Rs 80-crore budget
Godzilla Minus One, a Japanese kaiju film released in 2023, became a sleeper hit worldwide. The film was made on an estimated budget of $10-12 million (between Rs 80 and Rs 100 crore), a small amount for a film of its scale. In comparison, the Hollywood film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has a budget over $200 million (Rs 1650 crore). Yet, the visual effects of the film were praised worldwide. At the 96th Academy Awards, the film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, beating Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy among others. Even back in Indi, viewers compared its VFX to Brahmastra and Adipurush, both of which had budgets 4-7 times Godzilla’s cost, and yet paled when it came to the visual effects. The interesting thing about Minus One's visual effects team was that it consisted entirely of local Japanese talent and no foreign experts.
The stellar box office run of Godzilla Minus One
Produced by Toho Studios, the film has been written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who has also been in charge of the film’s visual effects. Godzilla Minus One is set in postwar Japan when the world first engages with the kaiju named Godzilla. Upon its release in November, the film earned praise fron critics and fans and soon broke box office records. It earned $107 million (Rs 875 crore), making it the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla film ever. It even earned accolades. Apart from the Oscar win, it won eight awards at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize and two at the 17th Asian Film Awards.
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