Mukta Arts

Main Availability

Credits

Descriptions by
nihirichan

Captures by
Tabit

Editions by
Tabit

Video captures courtesy of
Logo Archive and Moe Szyslak

Background

Mukta Arts is an Indian film production company that was founded in 1978 by Subhash Ghai. It is also involved in the production, distribution, and exhibition of films, serials, and entertainment software.

1st Logo (December 16, 1983-December 22, 1995)

Visuals: The sequence starts from a fade of a white symbol (Aum/Om). While it zooms out, a red Looney Tunes-esque background slowly appears. The background turns out to be a circle surrounded by red headphones, with "MUKTA ARTS PVT. LTD." text on the above inside of said circle. Later on, there are two people praying; a female on the left side of the logo, and a male on the opposite.

Trivia: The white symbol in the beginning is a religious Hindu symbol, called the "Aum," or "Om."

Technique: Live-action and practical effects.

Audio: A small ding with a sitar, with a chorus singing along with a man and woman singing the Gayatri mantra "ॐ भूर्भुव॒ स्सुवः॑ तत्स॑ वि॒तुर्वरे᳚ण्यं॒ भर्गो॑ दे॒वस्य॑ धीमहि धियो॒ यो नः॑ प्रचो॒दया᳚त् ॥". Ends in a dramatic albeit loud flourish of voices.

Availability: It was first seen on Hero, and was last seen on Trimurti.

2nd Logo (August 8, 1997)

Visuals: The camera pans around to reveal a set of snowy mountains, possibly resembling the Himalayas, with what appears to be a watchtower facing towards the left on top of the highest peak. While the camera pans around even more, the tower eventually faces toward the camera, letting off a really bright shine, as well as revealing an imprinted Om symbol on the mountain. The camera stops for a short time, and then slowly zooms toward the light, where a similarly styled golden Om symbol fades in front of the light, followed by a pair of purple headphones descending from the top and sitting right above the Om symbol, appearing to be enclosed by a purple ring. As the camera goes closer to the symbol, the shine dims down, only leaving a set of transparent blue rays emitting from the symbol, which is then followed by the company name in yellow on top of a platform to rise from the mountain and sit below the symbol, with the camera stopping as the text also stops moving. It ends with the text shifting its color to yellow.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: First, a high-pitched, sustained string note with some xylophone arpeggios during the first sequence. Then, a tampura note and a choir chanting "Om" his heard when the mountain containing the Om symbol is revealed, followed by a high-pitched xylophone ding when the bright light is shown. This continues until a string and percussion stinger when the headphones sit on top of the symbol is heard, where it ends with another choir chanting "Om" and some high-pitched xylophone dings.

Availability: Seen on Pardes.

3rd Logo (August 13, 1999)

Visuals: It is somewhat identical to the first logo but with some key differences: the Om symbol is thicker and smaller, and the outside ring is white. After the camera zooms away from it and stays still for a few seconds, the lights illuminate the room, revealing a rocky mountain landscape in a cloudy environment. Additionally, the headphones are black, in 3D, and in a different style, and the company is in a brighter color and slightly thicker. The camera pans down to get a better view of the logo as the lights illuminate it.

Technique: Practical effects.

Audio: A choir chanting the Gayatri mantra is heard with a tampura faintly rolling that begins with a high-pitched bell stinger that ends with a harsh stinger when the text appears.

Availability: Only seen in Taal.

4th Logo (April 6, 2001-September 12, 2003)

Visuals: There is another version of the Om symbol inside a black circle, but this time farther away from the camera, although partially lit. Slowly but surely, lights illuminate the rings one by one, which appear to be three sets of red rings, and a singular white ring containing the company name, just like the previous and first logos. After a while, the lights illuminate the room, which reveals the environment to be a cloudy environment with some trees at the back, the headphones to be much smaller in size, and the company name to just simply read "MUKTA ARTS LTD." It is also colored white.

Technique: Practical effects.

Audio: Same as the previous logo.

Audio Variant: On Joggers Park, a bell tonging plays right before the stinger is heard.

Availability: Seen in Rahul, Yaadein, Badhai ho Badhai, and Joggers Park.

5th Logo (November 12, 2004-November 21, 2008)

Visuals: The logo starts with a view of a closeup of an out-lined, crystal-clear Om symbol (similarly styled to the second logo) appearing to spin anti-clockwise while being inside of some outlined geometrical shapes, all of which are colored cyan. The camera zooms away from said objects, which appear to be multiple pairs of rings spinning vertically, a huge ring that appears to be stagnant throughout, and a pair of headphones spinning clockwise. Each object emits a shiny blue aurora and appears to be colored cyan. As the objects zoom out even more, they appear to take place in the middle of the ocean in a dark neon-blue kaleidoscopic environment. After a while, before the objects finally rest in their desired spots, they all individually wipe into a colorized version: a white Om symbol inside of numerous black and white rings, then followed by the company name in black "MUKTA ARTS LTD" fading on the top part of the rings. Before the text fades in, however, and underneath the logo, sparks appear from left to right, releasing the company name in a red letter by letter that appears to spin until it corrects itself to face forward. The text is briefly shown to have a red-white gradient style before a camera-defocusing effect occurs to get rid of the aurora and change the style of the text to become purely red. The logo then fades out.

Variant: A filmed variant also exists.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Same as the previous logos but with three bell tongs at the very end.

Audio Variants:

• In some films, the soundtrack ends sooner.
• On Yuvvraaj, the tonging bells aren't present.

Availability: Seen on Apna Sapna Money Money and Kisna: The Warrior Poet, among with other films during the 2000s.

6th Logo (June 19, 2009-)

Visuals: The logo opens with a shot of a similar environment although brighter and foggier than before. The Sanskrit transcript of the Gayatri Mantra in three stanzas wipes in above the ocean in dark blue as soon as the footage fades in. After a few seconds, the same cyan headphone logo suddenly appears in front of the camera and zooms away from it while the objects spin in varying directions and emit a burst effect. While the objects are zooming away, the Mantra in the background slowly fades away with a slow ripple effect. When the headphones stop rotating, the circle turns metallic, followed by red sparks appearing below the logo and releasing the company name letter by letter in red, just like the previous logo. A brief defocusing effect occurs which causes the burst to dissipate.

Variant: On 36 Farmhouse, the logo cuts straight to where the headphones first appear.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A string melody while a chorus chants "Om" is heard throughout. There is a metallic whoosh when the headphones appear for the first time, and another whoosh for the ring turning metallic.

Audio Variants:

• On Noukadubi, here is a tense horn and string piece with a man chanting "Om Namah Shivay" when the headphones appear.
• On 36 Farmhouse, it starts with two sets of choirs chanting "Om" with a bell stinger and a note of a horn before a guitar tune plays. A twinkling noise plays when the blur effect occurs.
• It may also use the previous logos' soundtrack.

Availability: Made its debut in Paying Guests and was also seen in films such as Right Yaaa Wrong and 36 Farmhouse, as well as other non-Hindi language films produced by the company such as the Bengali film Noukadubi.