KOCHI
: Those who have watched the 2009-American science fiction film ‘
Avatar
’ directed by James Cameron would never forget its lead heroine
Neytiri
and her Ikran, the large, dragon-like aerial predators that are native to Pandora, the mysterious planet. While Cameron used advanced
VFX
to create these characters, known for their wild and fictional beauty, S Harikrishnan, a 23-year-old animation graduate from Kalavoor in Alappuzha, has made the miniature life-like 3D-models of them using M-Seal, a multi purpose sealant.
Neytiri, Ikran and his other M-Seal models, including the one of Stephen Nedumpally played by Mohanlal in ‘Lucifer’, turn heads on social media and Harikrishnan is now busy making similar models of other famous movie characters. Besides M-Seal, Harikrishnan also uses thermocol and coconut shell to make models.
Harikrishnan, who aspires to be an art director in film industry, has been passionate about drawing and modelling since childhood. However, his stint at professional modelling began only during the days at ICAT Design and
Media College
, Chennai. He created more than 35 large models out of thermocol for his college but he started using M-Seal only after learning the technique from Tamil art director T Muthuraj, after he attended a training workshop with him.
“M-Seal proved to be a better medium than thermocol as it can be moulded into any shape easier. Creating a model of the Avatar characters was a dream as the movie is one of my favourites for its visual effects. It took me around two weeks to make Neytiri’s model and as it became a hit I decided to try Ikran too. Later, my friends insisted me to make Nedumpally’s model. Now, I am working on a model of Pazhassi Raja played by
Mammooty
in Kerala
Varma Pazhassi Raja
. The models of Fahad Faasil and others too are planned,” Harikrishnan said.