(15 April 2008 4:30 pm)

MUMBAI: The Mumbai studio constructed by EyeQube Studios Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Eros International and Charles Darby, has started operations. The company has officially begun work on the forthcoming films Aladdin and Drona.

A slate of other feature film work will also be announced within the next few months, says a company release.

The new studio is spread across an area of 20,000 square feet and boasts of one of the best facilities for visual effects in India with the latest hardware and software, the release adds.

The company will use both AutoDesk's Maya for 3D and the foundry's Nuke, as its primary composite programmes.

EyeQube creative director and senior VFX supervisor Charles Darby said, "EyeQube is an ideas factory, we make possibilities and that's where our future lies. We will develop each show we come into contact with and really harness India's untapped potential, its artists, whilst giving them a strict production structure. This year, we will be unwrapping a number of new projects and everyone of them is a wonderful opportunity for us to do something new."

"Six months ago, we announced the launch of a state-of-the-art visual effects facility in India promising to position Indian films on par with the best in Hollywood. Today, the dream has formally been given shape in the form of EyeQube Studios. Following Aladdin and Drona, through EyeQube we aim to announce shortly several more content-driven projects with a belief in taking Indian cinema to new heights," added Eros International India president Sunil Lulla.

EyeQube will produce not only Indian films with high-end VFX, but also be involved with a few international projects. The company will primarily handle VFX for all of Eros International's top-end productions and co-productions.