Producer Namit Malhotra had lost 90 per cent of his wealth by 2008, just a year after moving to Los Angeles to build a company that could bring Indian and Western filmmaking together. Nearly two decades later, he’s preparing to take his ambitious, two-part Ramayana adaptation to audiences worldwide.

And standing at the Academy Theatre in Los Angeles, the producer had a chance to reflect on just how far he’s come.Malhotra recently hosted a special presentation of the film at the prestigious venue, describing the occasion as his personal Oscar moment. His company, DNEG, has won eight Academy Awards, seven of them in the last 11 years for visual effects.

The team has worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve.For Malhotra, however, the moment meant more than a chance to celebrate those achievements. It brought him back to where his journey began: a small garage in Mumbai, an Apple computer and three of his former teachers helping him get a business off the ground when he was just 19."I wanted to host this evening at the Academy Theatre because this is my Oscar moment,” he said, before reflecting on his beginnings, with, "For someone from a third-generation film family and a garage start-up kid at 19, with an Apple computer and working with three of his teachers who were all 21, this is what dreams are made of." His journey to Los Angeles began in 2007, when he set out to build an international company connecting the film industries of the East and West.

The timing proved difficult. The global financial crisis hit in 2008, putting businesses under pressure and leaving Malhotra with a staggering personal setback."In my pursuit of building a global company and connecting the East and the West, I set foot in LA in 2007 and haven’t looked back since.

An immigrant who lost 90 per cent of his wealth during the fun times in 2008, as I am sure some of you may remember, to bounce back today and be able to bring the biggest independent production in the world, I can’t even tell you what it feels like to stand here today and say this," he said. He also acknowledged the people who stood by him through the difficult years, thanking his parents, Nita and Naresh Malhotra, and his wife for believing in his vision.

His father, a filmmaker, had encouraged him to begin working in production, although Malhotra initially found his way into post-production and visual effects."I got into post-production and visual effects to get to make movies at some point, and that is what I am doing today," he continued. Malhotra started out with a small video-editing and computer-graphics venture in a Mumbai garage.

In 1997, he merged it with his father’s equipment-rental business to establish Prime Focus Limited. His move to Los Angeles followed a decade later, as he worked towards building stronger links between Bollywood and Hollywood.Prime Focus merged with London-based visual-effects studio Double Negative in 2014.

The business was later rebranded as DNEG and went on to win eight Academy Awards for its work on films made with leading filmmakers. Malhotra’s ambitions have since extended beyond post-production and visual effects to large-scale filmmaking.That brings him to Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and co-produced by Yash.

Reportedly made on a combined budget of Rs 4,000 crore across two parts, the adaptation is scheduled to release in multiple languages, with the first part set to arrive in cinemas on November 5. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Sai Pallavi and Ravi Dubey in lead roles, with Rakul Preet Singh, Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and Arun Govil also playing important parts.- Ends