Power of Virtual Production Harnessed in The Bajaj Avenger

In a first-of-its-kind content film, a Bajaj Avenger was showcased in the rapidly growing world of Virtual Production where it cruised through half the country in just 2 days. In doing so, Media.Monks India showcased the much-loved Avenger as a case to further evolve the landscape of the Indian film industry through the integration of cutting-edge filmmaking innovation.

The film’s story starts by establishing that life is a never-ending chase, a constantly evolving quest that takes us through the different stages of each of our lives. The visuals were then woven around this narrative and depicted a literal and a figurative chase on the Avenger as the rider and his bike journey through life together. Arm in arm, they chase down dreams, goals, love, and much more with the Avenger proving an ever-faithful and dependable companion. The intro and outro scenes were shot on location while the rest of the film came to life inside a virtual production studio in an environment built in Unreal Engine which was then projected onto LEDs.

Media.Monks team took an innovative approach by combining new age Virtual Production with conventional filmmaking, enabling the team to shoot multiple locations, going from a camp on a remote hilltop in Manali to the beautiful Rann of Kutch, then into a classical Indian city, and back to a scene in a college. Without Virtual Production, shooting in all these different locations wouldn’t have been feasible in a 2-day shoot, considering the logistics and the budget and manpower that would be required.

Gayatri Sethi, SVP of Growth, Media.Monks India, talks about the journey of building a strong narrative with virtual production for brands: “ Clients often want stories to be told which always run into the walls of time & cost. Virtual production is allowing them to scale those walls and in doing so, ensure that the production is met as per the client's needs, within the timeline and budget."

Talking about the partnership, Robert Godinho, MD, Media.Monks India, adds, “Legacy Brands, especially automotive is very exciting to work with and in the future we see a lot of collaborations happening with this nimble and effective tool, Virtual production. We hope what has started out as a one-off could convert to a monthly retained model where MediaMonks can help in putting out fresh content for all things digital as well as TVCs with VP. The playing field is changing and we are super stoked to have Bajaj backing our vision with their brand story.”.

Venkatraman Rajasekar, Film Director, Media.Monks India, was also thrilled with the opportunity, saying that, “It was exciting to showcase the legacy of a brand like Bajaj Avenger using virtual production as a storytelling tool. It’s really amazing that we can mix the on-location shoot with the virtual locations to create such a seamless output. This opens up so many possibilities“,

John Paite, CCO (Art & Tech), Media.Monks India, further adds, “We started our journey into virtual production 3 years ago, and learned and improved through a lot of trial and error. To be able to make an emotive film like this today shows how much virtual production has grown in India. But, more than the tech, I’d say it’s the people who bring the real magic to the table - the creatives who conceptualize the film, the artist who creates the environment, the technical artist, and the full production crew.”