Behind Screen Khaleja

F ive years ago, Yugandhar Tammareddy was a creative artist than an entrepreneur. Now, he is strengthening the business arm of his venture, Pixelloid, besides keeping an eye on creative frontiers. Thirty one-year-old Yugandhar is among the seven Indian entrepreneurs to win the Young Creative Entrepreneur (YCE) award by the British Council. “My wife came across an announcement for the contest and registered my name and sent the details,” says an ecstatic Yugandhar, as his staff is absorbed in visual effects for Mahesh Babu's Khaleja and Ram Charan Teja's Orange. Yugandhar won the YCE award in the Screen category for floating Pixelloid, which recently completed five years.

( Yugandhar Tammareddy)

After working on visual effects and animation for 40 Telugu films and a few Hollywood projects, Yugandhar wants to diversify. He and his team are developing content for television and feature films. “In the next five years, we hope to make a Hollywood film,” he says with a smile. He grew up on a diet of international cinema and wants to explore new genres. Lofty dreams? May not seem so when you hear his own story of turning entrepreneur by chance.

“My friends and I were artists working for different companies. I started as a trainee animator and editor at Padmalaya Studios after studying BFA at SV College. I then moved to Rhythm and Hues in Mumbai and in less than six months realised I wasn't getting enough creative work. I returned to Padmalaya and worked on a few projects before starting Pixelloid,” he says.

As a freelancer, he worked on Nijam. Pixelloid was then born with an initial capital of Rs. 25 lakh, partly pooled in by him and his friends partly sourced through loans. With time, his team proved that Telugu film-makers needn't make a beeline to studios in Chennai to get cutting edge visual effects. The feather in the cap was the Nandi Award for the company's work in Sainikudu. “A Chennai firm did a lot of work for the film and we got to do a small portion. Yet, the quality of the work stood out,” he says.

Visual effects in Telugu films have evolved from jarring to aesthetic and even help producers cut cost. “For Nenu Meeku Telusa, the two-seater Mercedes car crash was done with special effects. A real Merc crash would cost nearly a crore,” points out Yugandhar. For the same film, his team changed five background sets for a song, saving the production team the cost of setting up elaborate sets. “For Brindavanam, we are changing the background of many portions to make it appear that the film was shot in a hill station. The shooting was done in Hyderabad,” he shares.