Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic Dune won multiple trophies at the Academy Awards 2022. Among them was the Best Visual Effects Oscar. One of the companies behind the film’s VFX is London-based visual effects and animation DNEG, whose CEO is Indian-origin Namit Malhotra. He is the son of Bollywood film producer Naresh Malhotra and grandson of cinematographer MN Malhotra
DNEG was also behind the VFX of Daniel Craig-starrer James Bond movie, No Time to Die, which was also nominated in the category. Previously, the company has won six Academy Awards for these movies: Inception, Interstellar, Ex Machina, Blade Runner 2049, First Man and Tenet.
Earlier, Malhotra had spoken about the nominations in an interview with News18. He said, “It’s a great feeling. It’s the first James Bond movie to get a nomination in this particular category in many, many years. Dune, on the other hand, is the new benchmark of visual effects in storytelling.
Our road leads to the 2022 Academy Awards®. #DuneMovie has been nominated for 10 awards including Best Picture. Tune in to the show TODAY! pic.twitter.com/FbwsWiFd8j
— DUNE (@dunemovie) March 27, 2022
Dune is based on Frank Herbert’s celebrated sci-fi classic novel of the same name. The film boasted of a starry ensemble cast. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa and Javier Bardem were part of the movie.
DNEG is also known for movies and TV shows like The Dark Knight Rises, Sherlock Holmes, Dunkirk, Altered Carbon, Chernobyl, Last Night In Soho, Foundation, among others.
Congratulations to DNEG,VFX & Animation Studio led by CEO Namit Malhotra on winning the #Oscar in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for their team’s work on Dune!
India is leading the way in the AVGC sector, we’re geared up to meet the global demand w/ our innovations & talent.
— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) March 28, 2022
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur congratulated Namit Malhotra and DNEG in a tweet. He wrote, “Congratulations to DNEG,VFX & Animation Studio led by CEO Namit Malhotra on winning the #Oscar in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category for their team’s work on Dune! India is leading the way in the AVGC sector, we’re geared up to meet the global demand w/ our innovations & talent.”
