Are we sci-fi ready?

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: a certain advance in a) giving us an extra terrestrial à la Steven Spielberg and b) showcasing a masked superhero who could fly-fight in the style of the Wachowski brothers’ Neo. Drona is the next big thing in the special effects pipeline, but it will not be travelling to the future at all. Delving into ancient myths and legends, it will show a world populated by magicians rather than machines, more Lord of the Rings than Matrix.

Madhava Prasad, film professor at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages at Hyderabad, points to how “the ability to imagine a future comes from a certain kind of confidence. Americans are so self-assured that, whether it is in Independence Day or War of the Worlds, they can only imagine the future happening in New York or its sister cities. We had to wait for the India shining story to catch on before we could imagine the future taking place on our shores.” Imagine a Mumbai that is automated and funky enough by 2050 to put most fantasies to shame.

Diwakar says, “These days, even a movie that is declared a flop can go on to make merry via satellite sales.” Perhaps 2050’s talking teddy may not go on to become a pop icon like Koi…Mil Gaya’s Jadoo, but its financial muscle will extend beyond the theatrical revenues. Baweja adds, “Even films like Taarzan: the wonder car get great TRPs because the youngsters are fascinated by all that is hi-tech. So we have good reasons to expect 2050 to do well on TV. Because people are also interested in knowing how special effects sequences are actually created, we have already sold DVD rights, including for a film about the making of 2050, at a huge price.” Another example of moneymaking synergies is the 2050 video game. It has been developed by Rocking Pixels whose CEO Sanjit Daniel says he found the futuristic 2050 an ideal vehicle for “showcasing 3D gaming in the Indian market.”