By Subhash K Jha

For some time now, Tony d'Souza who directed the marathon underwater fiasco Blue in 2009 has been off the radar in Mumbai. Friends have been wondering where Tony has disappeared to.

It now comes to light that Tony has been in LA studying 3-D filmmaking. Tony's next film which he is currently scripting, featuring Akshay Kumar will be a 3-dimensional aerial thriller. This would be Akshay's second 3-D film in one year. Shirish Kunder's Joker is also going to be made in 3-D.

Tony who first wanted to understand the intricacies of 3-D filmmaking took off for LA to study the technique from Michell Amundsen who was the Director Of Photography for films like Transformers, Wanted and Jonah Hex. Mitchell has also made documentaries on the 3-D technique.

Says Tony, "I spent three weeks with Michtell learning about 3-D in Los Angeles. It's always good to add to your knowledge of filmmaking. I think I'll go for a course in some specific technique of filmmaking after every film I direct. "

At the moment Tony is not allowed to divulge any details on his 3-D project. But he does admit that it is important for Hindi cinema to get as techno-savvy as its Hollywood counterpart. "If one is making a 3-D film it had better be on a par with James Cameron's Avatar. Otherwise there's no sense in giving Indian audiences sub-standard 3-D films in Hindi. "