In recognition of his outstanding work in bringing visual effects in animation and film industry, Madhusudhanan Narayanaswamy, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, received the Vocational Excellence Award 2012, instituted by Rotary Club of Madras East (R.I. Dist 3230). Hollywood producer Barrie M. Osborne presented the award to Mr. Narayanaswamy at a function held at Taj Connemara, Binny Road, recently.
Mr. Narayanaswamy became the first Indian to qualify for the Visual Effects Society of USA. He became the founding Chairman of FICCI for their Visual Effects Community in India and was later designated by the VES as their ambassador to India. From a very humble beginning he rose to make a mark in Hollywood. He was born into a middle-class family and studied in Tamil medium.
About the recipient of the Award, Madhusudhanan Narayanaswamy:
He was inspired by writer Sujatha and dreamt of writing stories like him. Although his stories were rejected by the popular weeklies that time, he was proud to get one through his college magazine and this he considers an achievement till date. He was determined to be a part of story-telling at some point in his life. The early rejections only made his passion stronger. After his education, he took up many small time jobs such as a delivery boy for a bakery. Later, he sold computers for a few years. Hailing from a small village, English was a big challenge. But the fire within him for story-telling remained. The introduction of multimedia technology made Madhu realise that the future would be computer-dependent. This was indeed Madhu’s first step towards a career in visual effects.His attention turned towards television commercials. He worked hard to understand the basics of making an ad film and how visual stories could be created. Then movies caught his eyes.
The opportunity came through a Vijayakant’s film, called Alexander . The computer graphics used in the title song caught the audience eye. Later he went on to work with more Tamil films. He got the opportunity to work in the projects of Maniratnam and Kamal Hassan.
AlaipayutheAalavandaa
By now, Madhu’s dream was to see his name in at least one Hollywood film. He had the opportunity to work with Barrie M Osborne’s Lord of The Rings. Some of his Hollywood projects are Stormbreaker, Click, Spider Man 3, The Warrior's Way, Gulliver's Travel, In Time, and The Host.
Lord of The RingsStormbreaker, Click, Spider-Man 3, The Warrior's way, Gulliver's Travel, In TimeThe Host
Rotary Club of Madras Chenna Patna
Rotary Club of Madras Chenna Patna (R.I. District 3230) honoured Joint Commissioner of Police, CCB, Chennai, S.N. Seshasai, and U. Ashwini, a Class X student of Sacred Heart Convent (Church Park), a chess prodigy, with Vocational Excellence Award and Young Achiever Award respectively.
Mr. Seshasai, in his acceptance speech, thanked the club for choosing him for the honour. He spoke about the initiatives of the Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa for enhancing the effectiveness of policing and to make it a people-friendly force. The Boys and Girls Club initiative, launched at the instance of the Chief Minister, which has moved police closer to the less-privileged in the society, came in for his special praise.
Ashwini has won several championships at the State and National levels in U-15 category and has represented the country at various international championships too.
In his key note address, Mr. Venkataraman commended the efforts of the club and wished both the awardees the very best in the future.
