Reliance MediaWorks Limited (RMW) is a film and entertainment services company and a member of the

Reliance Group Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group or popularly known as Reliance ADA Group or simply Reliance Group is an Indian conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company, which was formed after Dhirubhai Ambani's business was divided up, ...

. The company is one of India's film and entertainment services companies with a presence across several media businesses including the theatrical exhibition of films, television content production and distribution, and film and media services. The company facilities have been

MPAA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

certified. Services provided by the company include Motion Picture Processing and DI, Digital Distribution,

Audio Restoration Audio restoration is the process of removing imperfections (such as hiss, impulse noise, crackle, wow and flutter, background noise, and mains hum) from sound recordings. Audio restoration can be performed directly on the recording medium (f ...

and Image Enhancement,

2D to 3D conversion 2D to 3D video conversion (also called 2D to stereo 3D conversion and stereo conversion) is the process of transforming 2D ("flat") film to 3D form, which in almost all cases is stereo, so it is the process of creating imagery for each eye from ...

, Digital Master, Studios and Equipment rentals,

Visual Effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

, Animation and Post Production for TV Advertisements. RMW's operations are spread across

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, UK and the US.Phoenix Big Cinemas
Phoenixtheatres.com (2012-09-30). Retrieved on 2013-12-06. RMW’s television venture

BIG Synergy Big Synergy Media Limited is a television production company headed by chief executive officer Rajiv Bakshi. It started as one of the country's first few independent television outfits in 1988. BIG Synergy is an acknowledged leader in factual en ...

is engaged in the television programming industry housing popular shows such as

Kaun Banega Crorepati ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' (also simply known as ''KBC'') is an Indian Hindi-language television game show. It is the official Hindi adaptation of the ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' franchise. It has been presented by actor Amitabh Bachchan ...

and

Indian Idol ''Indian Idol'' is the Indian Reality television, music competition television franchise based on the ''Pop Idol'' format. Versions : Currently airing – 1 : Upcoming for airing – 0 : Recently concluded – 3 : No longer airing – ...

. Reliance MediaWorks’ sound stages have also been utilized for events such as The Filmfare Awards, the movies

Singham ''Singham'' is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Reliance Entertainment, based on a script by writers Yunus Sajawal and Farhad-Sajid. It serves as first installment of Shetty's Cop Universe. A ...

and Agneepath, and numerous television commercials.

History

2005–2008

The company was initially established as Adlabs Films Limited in 1975 by

Manmohan Shetty Manmohan Shetty is an Indian entrepreneur who founded and developed Adlabs Films Ltd, one of India’s largest media and entertainment firms. Biography Shetty was born and schooled in Mangalore in India to a Tulu-speaking Tuluva Bunt communit ...

. The company began to expand into the film industry and in 2001, the company entered the multiplex business, setting up the world’s largest 3D

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

screen in Mumbai. In 2005, the Reliance ADA Group became a majority stake holder in Adlabs, and in 2009, it was renamed Reliance MediaWorks Limited.

2008–2009

RMW expanded by setting up Asia’s first

Digital Intermediate Digital intermediate (typically abbreviated DI) is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics. Definition and overview A digital intermediat ...

Lab with a 4K facility. The lab was accredited by the

Federation Against Copyright Theft The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) is an organisation established in 1983 to protect and represent the interests of its members' intellectual property (IP). FACT also investigates fraud and cybercrime, and provides global due diligenc ...

. In 2008, RMW acquired a 100% stake in

Lowry Digital Lowry Digital was a digital film restoration company based in Burbank, California. John D. Lowry (June 2, 1932 – January 21, 2012) was a Canadian film restoration expert and innovator who founded Lowry Digital Images in 1988. Company Histor ...

, a renowned image restoration and enhancement services company based in Burbank, California. Working on projects such as

Avatar Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...

, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and

The Social Network ''The Social Network'' is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, based on the 2009 book ''The Accidental Billionaires'' by Ben Mezrich. It portrays the founding of social networking web ...

, RMW’s Burbank branch developed working relationships with Hollywood studios. RMW also began to restore approximately 1,000 films from the

National Film Archive of India The National Film Archive of India (NFAI) was established as a media unit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in February 1964. It is was a member of the International Federation of Film Archives. In March 2022, it was merged with ...

. On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing on 16 July 2009,

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

tasked RMW to restore original video footage of the missing Apollo moon landing tapes.

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

expressed his appreciation, stating that "your restored video is now a valuable contribution to space exploration and space communication history…thanks for all you did beyond the call of duty. Our grandchildren and their grandchildren will benefit."

2010

In early 2010, RMW acquired iLAB UK, a film processing and post production facility located in Soho, London. By May 2010, the company commissioned a Media BPO in

Airoli Airoli (Marathi pronunciation: �iɾoliː is a residential and commercial area of Navi Mumbai in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name Airoli Node is derived from Airoli-Diva Gaon the largest village prominent in the node node. It is a p ...

, Mumbai in order to handle projects exclusively for international clientele. RMW’s Airoli facility was utilized to initiate a 2D-to-3D conversion BPO, an Animation studio and a

VFX Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated VFX) is the process by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production. The integration of live-action footage and other live-action foota ...

setup. The Airoli office also housed an image restoration facility where the company continued to work on restoring films from the National Film Archive of India. The company expanded its offerings to their domestic clientele, commencing an equipment rental facility for cameras, lights and grips, and establishing a post facility for broadcast television clients in Mumbai’s western suburbs. Projects they catered to included

Dus Ka Dum ''10 Ka Dum'' (English: Power of 10) is an Indian version of the international reality game show ''Power of 10'', and aired on Sony Entertainment Television. The show was hosted by popular Bollywood actor Salman Khan. According to reports, the sh ...

, Jhalak Dikhla Ja and

Femina Miss India Miss India or Femina Miss India is a national beauty pageant in India that annually selects representatives to compete in Miss World, one of the Big Four major international beauty pageants. It is organised by '' Femina'', a women's magazine ...

. In September, RMW created a VFX setup for India’s domestic film market in their Film City Office. By December, a team of artists were recruited to cater specifically for international clients in their Airoli office. Towards the end of 2010, RMW received an award in Creativity and Innovation from the

Hollywood Post Alliance The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA; formerly Hollywood Post Alliance) is a Southern California-based trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body ...

2011

In early 2011, RMW commissioned one of Mumbai’s largest indoor sound stages. In March 2011, RMW received a patent called "Obsidian" for creating a method for removing semi-transparent artifacts from digital images caused by contaminants in the camera’s optical path. This process received a significant amount of recognition within the entertainment industry, resulting in RMW receiving a Scientific and Technical Oscar from

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

. RMW delved deeper into

3D film 3D films are motion pictures made to give an illusion of three-dimensional solidity, usually with the help of special glasses worn by viewers. They have existed in some form since 1915, but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion pict ...

consulting, providing support during film shoots and advising filmmakers on 3D image alignments. By the end of year, the company had provided post production services for 110 out of 114

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

films that released in 2011.

2012

In September 2012, RMW along with China’s Galloping Horse acquired post production assets from

Digital Domain Digital Domain is an American visual effects and digital production company based in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California. The company is known for creating digital imagery for feature films, advertising and games from its locations in Californ ...

, a legendary Hollywood studio founded by

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

. The takeover (known as Digital Domain v 3.0) allowed RMW to participate in projects such as ''

The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the Earth 616, mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bim ...

'', '' Transformers: Dark of the Moon'', ''John Carter'', ''The Smurfs'', ''Green Lantern'' and ''Ender's Game''.

2013

By 2013, Reliance MediaWorks expanded its business by teaming with a variety of production companies as equity investors. Hiring Academy Award winning George Murphy as the company’s

Chief Creative Officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with ...

in April 2013, RMW signed multimillion-dollar deals with Ethyrea Films and Random Cow. In August 2013 RMW signed director

Vadim Perelman Vadim Perelman ( ukr, Вадим Перельман; born 8 September 1963) is a Ukrainian-Canadian-American film director. Perelman made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with '' House of Sand and Fog'', following a successful career as ...

as their Creative Director in India. The following month, the company tied up with

Turner International India Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

for post production services of its entertainment channels.

2014

In 2014, Reliance Mediaworks and Prime Focus merged. It sold big cinemas to Kochi based Carnival cinemas for around 700 crores in 2014. Big cinemas have now been rebranded as carnival cinemas.

Awards

* RMW received an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

in Scientific and Technical Excellence from the

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

in 2012 for its development of a unique and efficient system for "Reduction of noise and other disturbances", thereby providing high-quality images required in the film-making process.

Recent credits

Ninja Hattori-kun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the Fujiko Fujio duo (and later by Fujiko A. Fujio) which was serialized between 1964 and 1988. It was later adapted into a television drama that aired on TV Asahi from 1966 – ...

(2012 anime) * Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon – *

Don 2 ''Don 2: The King Is Back'', also known as ''Don 2'', is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film written, co-produced and directed by Farhan Akhtar. It is the second installment in the '' Don reboot series''. Jointly produced by Excel ...

– 3 D Conversion *

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

– 3D Conversion and VFX *

Expendables 2 ''The Expendables 2'' is a 2012 American action film directed by Simon West, written by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone and based on a story by Ken Kaufman, David Agosto and Wenk. Brian Tyler returned to score the film. It is the sequel to ...

– VFX * G.I. Joe: Retaliation – VFX * Star Wars Trilogy – Restoration and 3D Conversion *

The Conspirator ''The Conspirator'' is a 2010 American mystery historical drama film directed by Robert Redford and based on an original screenplay by James D. Solomon. It is the debut film of the American Film Company. The film tells the story of Mary Surrat ...

– VFX *

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

– VFX *

Paranoia Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concer ...

– VFX *

Chennai Express ''Chennai Express'' () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Rohit Shetty and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Gauri Khan and Karim Morani, based on a story by K. Subash, with a screenplay written by ...

– VFX

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reliance Mediaworks Ltd Mass media companies based in Mumbai Reliance Group subsidiaries Mass media companies established in 1975 Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange 1975 establishments in Maharashtra