Excel Entertainment

Credits

Descriptions by
Unnepad

Captures by
Camenati

Editions by
AlmightyKingPrawn

Video captures courtesy of
Ifrequire and EnormousRat

Background

Excel Entertainment is an Indian film production and distribution company, founded by filmmaker and actor Farhan Akhtar and producer Ritesh Sidhwani in 1999. The company, however, didn't use a logo until 2001.

1st Logo (August 10, 2001)

Visuals: On a black background, a black circle with dark blue rays zooms out, with another ripple gray circle outside it. Multi-colored rays then appear from beyond the screen, following the letter "e" emerging out of the two circles. Afterwards, yellow light rays emerge from the left side of the screen, while a yellow lightbulb swings from left to right, and both of them quickly fade out. A camera lens-like figure, accompanied by three half-rings beside it, and magenta lights, then fades in, with the words "excel entertainment" appearing in a split-second. Then, a purple-red circle fades in, followed by a purple-red swirl with a giant "e" in front of it. Finally, the "e" turns yellow and is now inside a blue box, with the words "Excel" and "entertainment" below it.

Technique: Digital computer animation.

Audio: A Madchester-style breakbeat accompanied by a faint choir, and ending with a distorted guitar chord.

Availability: Only seen on Dil Chahta Hai.

2nd Logo (June 18, 2004–February 26, 2010)

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Visuals: A flash happens, and the screen zooms out. There is a metallic blue human-like figure holding a flag on a dark blue background. The figure waves the flag around, and a flash occurs once the flag is held toward the center. The flash reveals, on a black background, the silhouette of the figure holding the flag, and the word "E X C E L" (in corporate font) forms under the silhouette. The word "entertainment" then fades in under "E X C E L".

Variant: In Lakshya, the animation doesn't release a trail after the human first sways the flag.

Technique: Cel animation and digital computer effects.

Audio: A calm, glassy theme.

Availability: The logo debuted in Lakshya, and last appeared in Karthik Calling Karthik. It was primarily seen in the company's output during the early 2000s up to the early 2010s, such as Don - The Chase Begins Again, Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., and Luck by Chance.

3rd Logo (April 1, 2011–)

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Visuals: The logo starts with some transparent ribbons moving over a teal space background. A flash occurs near the bottom left corner, revealing the (now redesigned) human-like figure from the previous logo standing on a pedestal. The figure waves the flag around, while the camera gets multiple angles. Finally, when the figure stops moving and the pedestal fades out underneath them, the ribbons exit from the scene, revealing the words "EXCEL ENTERTAINMENT" in a futuristic font.

Variants:

• There exists a 20th-anniversary version, which was only seen in a YouTube video from Excel culminating its 20th anniversary.
• In Phone Bhoot, there only exists a still print version found at the end credits.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic and powerful fanfare, which is the theme of the film Lakshya, composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy.

Availability: It debuted in Game and appeared in its more recent output such as Don 2, Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, Gully Boy, and the Fukrey film series.