For a couple of days, we have been quietly tracking some interesting activity on ‘Neerja’ and ‘Aarya’ director Ram Madhvani’s social media handle. The National Film Award-winning director gave us a hint of an exciting new venture namely ‘Equinox Virtual’.
This new project is the filmmaker’s foray into the virtual world of gaming. The venture is being described as an extension of Ram Madhvani’s existing production house Equinox Films and is in collaboration with Amita Madhvani. It’s the supremely talented filmmaker’s next step from ad filmmaking and movie direction to the gaming territory.
Earlier today, the filmmaker revealed some more concrete details about it. It was made aware that Equinox Virtual is developing stories and characters that would pertain to the gaming world and virtual experiences. And that rich storytelling would be an integral part of the games so created.
To begin with, Equinox Virtual’s initial gaming genre would be Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) which would be under the ambit of mobile gaming. The game would be uniquely Indian and will ostensibly be launched this year in various languages including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and English in order to cater to a diverse customer segment. The creative supervision for the venture would be done by producer Khvafar Vakharia.
Regarding Equinox Virtual, Ram Madhvani had stated that: “The quest has always been to entertain the audience by telling stories creatively whether in short or long format. We are in the business of feelings. As a filmmaker and visualiser moving into the virtual world of gaming is just one of the spaces to engage with the audience creatively.”
The gaming industry has an untapped yet immense potential in India and when a gifted storyteller of Ram Madhvani’s caliber is at the helm, it certainly would be an immersive and gripping experience for prospective players/viewers.
However, not much is yet known about the ‘virtual’ aspect of gaming. Whether users would be given access to an Oculus-like gaming device in the future, or it can be experienced in any mobile device, is perhaps a matter of speculation. Virtual experience also has potential for an experience akin to Netflix’s interactive film ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’. That would add another dimension and also do justice to the proven storytelling abilities of Ram Madhvani.
Ram Madhvani’s upcoming projects include the second season of the acclaimed web series ‘Aarya’ featuring Sushmita Sen besides Kartik Aaryan’s thriller film ‘Dhamaka’, which is expected to release later this year on the Netflix OTT platform.