Tata Elxsi, the technology arm of the Tata group that delivers design and creative expertise, is expecting about 20% of its revenues to come from Visual Computing Labs (VCL). VCL is the animation and visual effects business division of the company and currently contributes about 5% of the total Rs 403 crore for the company.
The company is working on ?Roadside Romeo?, a full-fledged Bollywood animation film under the banner of Yashraj Productions and Walt Disney. Sources close to the project reveal that Tata has spent almost $10 million on this project. Madhukar Dev, CEO & MD, Tata Elxsi, said, ?We expect VCL to contribute about 20% by 2010. ?Roadside Romeo? is one of the largest projects and we have been working on it for about 16 months now.? He adds, ?We plan to work on another two films under the same banners. The second film will start within the next six months.?
The company currently has no rights over the intellectual property (IP) of the film and the rights have been given to the client. However, the company plans to retain IP for its work in the future. At the moment, the headcount at Tata Elxsi is about 300 people at its Bangalore and Mumbai offices, of which, about 100 specialise in the Visual Effects (VFX) and the rest in animation.
A major part of Tata Elxsi?s revenues come from the embedded product design, about 75%, Innovation Design Engineering (IDE) contributes 10%, and system integration about 10%. The company plans ramp up its IDE revenues by setting up a studio in the UK, to tap the projects it is losing to local companies.
