Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla narrowly escape a car that is turning cartwheels behind them ("Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani").

Sanjay Dutt is a writer looking for inspiration after a major failure. Letters of the alphabet 'haunt' his psyche by floating and filling up the cinemascope screen ("Shabd").

And when Rani Mukerji's will triumphs and her Alzheimer's disease-ridden teacher Amitabh Bachchan takes his first step towards recovering his memory, the world of "Black" turns completely white, and it's not only the snow, but also the house - in fact, the entire frame.

The world of Hindi films is suddenly brighter, better and bigger because of a paradigm leap in special effects in nearly every aspect of films - from the concept ("Koi...Mil Gaya") to the execution of romantic ("Kisna"), dramatic ("Black") and action ("Main Hoon Na," "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi") sequences. "Mughal-E-Azam," the 2004 re-release of a 1961 classic, may have made news because of its colorization, but what probably deserved equal, if not greater, importance was the way the original much-damaged print was cleaned-up, its details restored, and the coloring finally graded and corrected so that the final impact would be impressive, aptly retro and authentic rather than gaudy.

"Technology is going to be a major part of cinema to come," says Harry Baweja, director of India's first completely color-corrected film, "Qayamat" (2003). "The audience is looking for content, so special effects are not enough. But when you have a script that is strong on substance, and different visual effects are added, it works even better."

Cinema, as an audio-visual art of storytelling, has always had a need for special effects. Our older cinematographers made the best use of their creativity to create such effects. Apart from a brief flirtation with 3-D in the '80s, we employed optical effects for magical sequences, stunt scenes, mythological films, and double roles.

Using techniques like masking (covering half the lens and taking a shot, and repeating it with the other half-masked) and the blue matte process (shooting a character against a blue screen and then juxtaposing it against the backdrop needed), our cameramen delivered ingenious work right from the black-and-white days. The 1966 "Mr. X In Bombay" had Kishore Kumar fly his jalopy over the city (and even sing with his heroine in mid-air) while Anil Kapoor became invisible and objects flew in "Mr. India" (1987).

Several special effects geniuses like Babubhai Mistry, Peter Pereira, and Raveekant Nagaich did splendid work given the severe time-constraints, budgets and meager technological resources. Many of these cinematographers overcame hurdles by sheer hard work and ingenuity, putting in hours under primitive conditions to get just a few seconds of effect. In the '70s film "Sougaat," in which Shabana Azmi portrayed mother and daughter in a double role, Peter Pereira, using the matte process, shot a sequence that had the mother Shabana combing the flowing tresses of the daughter Shabana, including running her fingers through her beti's hair.

"Yes, our seniors did awesome work with what they had in those times," admits Pankaj Khandpur, director of Tata Elxsi's Visual Computing Lab, one of the four main players in Hindi cinema today.

"But today, special effects - or visual effects, as they are accurately termed now - are not so much about creating a few obvious moments of fantasy as of making them merge with the film." Veteran Pereira deserves a zillion pats on his back for the hair-combing sequence, because today it would be created by special computer software, as was done to create multiple Akshay Kumars and Salman Khans in a fight sequence in "Mujhse Shaadi Karogi."

In the '90s, directors' preferences began to change towards getting a look that had a seamless fusion with the film (remember Kamal Haasan playing a midget in "Appu Raja"), but digital special effects began to flow in only in the mid- and late'90s, and foreign technicians were often mandatory for the actual execution. Importing foreign talent is done even today for specific needs, but is no longer a compulsion. In fact, the change in the last five years has been so drastic that Indian companies (such as Ketan Mehta's Maya The Magic Shop) regularly do world-class work for clients from abroad, especially since the costs are a fraction of what they would be overseas.

So what constitutes the canvas and scope of visual effects today as a digital science wherein virtually no optical work is done? Here is a list:

1. Getting hitherto unimaginable and inconceivable effects in action, dance and other sequences by merging them with the physical shot.

2. Animation, used till now in ad films, is being used increasingly in films.

3. Merging live characters with animation.

4. Creating add-on digital characters, locations and props/objects, and seamlessly putting them into a real background.

5. Color-correcting or grading a film.

6. Eliminating unwanted objects like the wire and hook that suspend actors while shooting stunt/other sequences and also removing flaws, etc.

7. Restoring/updating older movies' worn out or damaged prints by eliminating fungal or other patches, enhancing details, removing scratches and flaws, and recreating missing details.

8. Stylizing a movie with shot transitions, like the leaves of "Mohabbatein."

9. Overcoming technical and practical difficulties, like merging location with character (the cliffhanger sequences in "Veer-Zaara" and "Lakshya").

Last but not least, visual effects allow a filmmaker's/writer's imagination to think of fresh and unusual subjects. The finesse and quality of today's films were simply unimaginable in Hindi cinema just three years ago.

Says Kewal Sharma, director of films like "Maalamaal" (1988) and now senior vice-president of Rajtaru Videotec, "It's been a slow but consistent journey. In the initial years, simple effects like trails (multiple images), dissolves and ramping (jumps)were used, but now a print began to be made with provisions for special effects, which meant that the negative had perforations that were run on a machine to get a second negative film after the manipulations for effects were done."

Imagination, adds Sharma, can run wild now. "Anything can be incorporated or removed from a frame, and we can even create a character." In the late '90s, Rajtaru acquired Flame, a special effects software that offers compositing tools that seamlessly integrate live layers with digital, 3-D elements to give a very high production quality.

In "Hindustan Ki Kasam," for which Rajtaru won the first-ever Indian International Film Award for Special Effects in 2000, the 'Indian' Ajay Devgan was shown fighting with the 'Pakistani' Ajay Devgan.

"We showed a 360-degree shot with them circling and then one Ajay picks up the other," explains Sharma. "In 'Phir Bhi Dil,' we shot the car turning somersaults and Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla running separately, and generated the dust digitally as the automobile neared them."

A great advantage of visual effects is that "we are protecting so many artists and stuntmen from physical damage, and it is not true that we are threatening their rozi-roti," stresses Sharma.

The special effects brigade is more than a shade upset that recognition is not coming by way of awards. Says Sharma, "Only IIFA and now Screen awards the players in this department. This is sad. When 'Refugee' - wherein we digitally added a flamingo in a desert because J.P. Dutta wanted the lyrics 'Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke' to come alive - was nominated, the jury awarded someone else and said that our entry did not qualify because we had actually shot the bird there."

Chuckles Sharma, "That was in effect our biggest award. Because flamingoes are never found in deserts!"

Rajtaru has recently begun branching out to overseas clients. Visual Computing Labs, a division of the Tata Elxsi group, has also emerged as a formidable player. Says creative director Pankaj Khandpur, "We are a full service visual effects facility including 3-D and animation whereas most houses do either effects or animation. We have worked on some shots even for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 'Into The Blue' and 'One Night With The King'."

What is his take on the recent evolution in visual effects and animation ("Hum Tum" just won them a Screen trophy for 2004)?

Replies Khandpur, "Though there has been a sea-change compared to 25 years ago, the sad part is that India is still formulaic in storytelling. We have walked out of films or turned them down when a filmmaker vaguely told us, 'Do something in this scene or song'. We are not a post-production outfit. There is no magic button, and we need to be involved creatively from day one."

VCL's recent work that has received encomiums include "Kal Ho Naa Ho," "Dhoom," "Swades," and "Lagaan," where they had "15 minutes of work, running-time wise. The crowds were duplicated digitally and no one guessed."

Three recent technical triumphs using the Digital Intermediate process, or color correction, have been "Shabd," "Kisna," and "Black." These have been done by the other two main players in the business, who also happen to lead in DI in India - Prime Focus, which also did "Qayamat," and Prasad EFX, which worked on "Khakee."

Says Bharath Sunder, CEO of Prime Focus, "We are the largest visual effects enterprise in the country today. In Mumbai alone we have three workplaces. We also have these facilities for South Indian films in Chennai and London, and we will begin soon in Dubai."

The London facility, stresses Sunder, is for more sophisticated work. "Indian filmmakers who have the budgets and the ambition can work out of London, like Rakesh Roshan will be doing for the sequel to 'Koi...Mil Gaya'."

Prime Focus, headed by Namit Malhotra, was the first to get high-end equipment like Lustre, the 'motion control rig', and the Spirit 2K Telecine, which reduces work time on a movie to a fraction of what was needed previously.

"The rig is a digitally programmed crane that eliminates the need to do multiple shots when we want replication of a character," explains Sunder.

He also feels that Hindi films go wrong in the economics. "Paying a star such huge amounts is a wastage and a big mistake," he says.

"If stars were paid reasonable sums, a film's budget would go down drastically and would alter the scenario towards better ideas, scripts and, finally, success ratios. Per se, special effects can enhance the ability to make a wider range of cinema."

The fourth major player is Prasad EFX, that operates from Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. Says Madhusudan K., post production supervisor at Prasad, "Indian players score on two fronts - quality and budget. We are doing a Hollywood film, 'Sound Of Thunder', and some projects in Malaysia. We have offices in Dubai and Singapore and are exploring other areas."

Among the films done at Prasad are "Lakshya," "Kisna," "Khakee," "Fida," and "Lakeer."

Kavita Sai Prasad, director of Prasad EFX, is delighted at the huge demand for DI. Having begun a branch in Los Angeles, Prasad says that they have developed proprietary software that is under patent in the U.S. that will cut down on time and give them the edge over local players.

Located in Culver City, Prasad has allied itself with local partners. "We are also entering restoration in a big way, and will mostly be doing 'Naya Daur' for B.R. Chopra and the five Navketan classics that Dev Anand wants to do."

Since 1995, there has been only one worldwide player of import in supplying the software that has revolutionized visual effects - Discreet.

The brand, a division of Autodesk, Inc., of California, has captured about 75 percent of the market share in digital software that has powered the revolution, among them Flame, Fire, Combustion, Inferno, Smoke, Flint, Lustre and 3dsMax 7.

"Our primary objective in coming to India was in touching the Indian film market," says Pankaj Kedia, regional manager, systems, South-East Asia and India, at Discreet.

"The last ten years has seen phenomenal growth. India missed out on the hybrid phase wherein in-house computer graphics merged with optical effects, but it isn't lagging significantly behind today." In fact, "Work in India is amazing today. 'Dhoom' with 500 shots leads in special effects, which is even more than the work done on the story-oriented sci-fi film 'Koi...Mil Gaya'."

India is next only to Hollywood as a market for Discreet software today. Kedia feels that the next step now will be more complex visual effects that will take cinema to the next level.

Action sequence in "Baaz." The green background shows Dino Morea hanging by wires, while the adjecent shot in blue is digitally altered to show him jumping without assistance. Right, similar techniques were used in an action sequence in "Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani" featuring Shah Rukh Khan.

In the first shot, Hrithik Roshan and Karishma Kapoor are filmed in the studio against a green background for a dance scene in "Yaadein." In the second shot, the same digitally altered shot shows them against a celestial background. Bottom left, Prithvi Raj Kapoor in the original black and white version of "Mughal-e-Azam." Bottom right, the digitally colorized version of the same scene in the restored film.