by Hilath Rasheed MALE, Aug 9 (HNS) -- Like the rest of the world, Maldivian filmgoers have been enthralled by the visual effects of Hollywood’s recent blockbusters such as "Matrix Reloaded," "Terminator 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean," and "Finding Nemo." But the question is: can we come up with the same quality of visual effects without incurring any extra cost to our local films whose maximum budget normally is, say, around Rf200,000 (about US$15,500) which is a budget which will shock even Hollywood’s smallest budget filmmakers ("The Blair Witch Project" was produced for US$50,000). Over the years, Maldivian film producers and directors have wondered whether they can make state-of-the-art visual effects without spending the unthinkable millions of dollars that otherwise are demanded for this kind of visual effects. A small, quite user-friendly software called, "Maya", that works on any Pentium computer in your home, may be the answer to coming up with visual effects for Dhivehi films, according to local whiz kids who say that the software could save costs and revolutionize Maldives’ films. "Steven Spielberg spent millions for the dinosaur effects in ‘Jurassic Park,’ but we can pass around that," commented a local computer programmer. Most in this field are amateurs -- and very, very young. Among them is Ahmed Shirhan, who is just 22, but who has professionally done high quality visual effects for many TV ads and the recently released Maldivian fantasy film "Araamagu Dhonkamana" based on a folklore. Shirhan has been playing around with Maya software for only a year, but "give me the creative freedom and I can do anything," he says. The visual effects of the film "Araamagu Dhonkamana" have been praised by not only audiences but critics as well, and Shirhan is now in great demand for future TV and film projects. "I am in the process of doing a visual effects scene that has never before been seen in Maldives’ cinema. But the producers are keeping it under wraps. They will reveal it when the time comes," Shirhan confides. Shirhan is fascinated by the virtual 3D backgrounds and characters created in CGI films such as "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within." He said that though he enjoyed working on mixing live action shots with visual effects, he prefers creating a whole scene, with characters, digitally, like in "Final Fantasy." "That is my aim -- to create whole virtual environments." To skeptics, he has proven that he can create virtual environments digitally. To Haveeru reporters, he showed a yet-unreleased TV ad of Scope Furniture in which he has realistically created a room with furniture. "Shirhan is nothing short of a genius. He grasps things smoothly and easily. A director has to only briefly outline a project and it seems that he knows exactly what the director has in mind," says Mohamed Niyaz "Tedry", the successful director and producer of "Dheriya" and "Amaanaaiy" respectively. Unlike Hollywood, which produces films of all genres, Maldives’ audiences prefer either melodrama or fantasy, thereby increasing demand for visual effects. Hence, local computer whiz kids playing around and producing great visual effects is great news for Maldives’ film industry, and it could indeed revolutionize Dhivehi films. Neighboring Bollywood has recently been able to churn out a "Independence Day" caliber visual effects laden Hindi film called "Koi Mil Gaya" with heartthrob Hrithik Roshan. The day might not be far when Maldives itself produces a film of this scale.