Changing face of Animation

Every second major Bollywood studio like Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions or Adlabs, has announced an animation movie following the success of Hanuman. At the same time, animation studios are popping up like BPO call centres in every city as demand for Indian animation content rises in the international television programmes circuit

MUMBAI FILMAKER Govind Nihalani gets seriously playful by centering his next film on a baby camel called Kamlu. This film, which is set in Rajasthan but entirely executed in a Chennai studio, happens to be in 3D animation.

Soumitra Ranade, a Mumbai-based filmmaker is all set to release Friends Forever, a Hindi feature film with Ashmit Patel and Hrishataa Bhatt. This commercial release is special because of the pivotal role played in the film by an originally devised animated character Zampano
The Chennai-based Accel Animation Studios will develop and produce a 133-episode 3D animated television series based on tales with a moral hook from the Tamil treatise, Thirukkural. The company has tied up with American company, LongTale International, to distribute this TV series outside India.

There is more action in the Indian animation industry. South Indian superhero Rajnikanth, is all set to send Superman scuttling for cover, as he storms into the world of animation, in the film Sultan, the Warrior. Directed and written by his daughter, Soundarya, this 3D animation movie, is meant to be a tribute to her larger-than-life actor-father.
Just ten years ago, the Indian animation industry was part of the outsourcing industry involved in back-end jobs for big and small, foreign and Indian film and advertising studios. But today, following the commercial success of animation movie Hanuman, every second major Bollywood studio like Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions or Adlabs, has announced an animation film.

"Five animated films executed in Indian studios will be released by 2008 end," predicts Mumbai filmmaker Soumitra Ranade, waiting to release his new film, Friends Forever, a mix of live action and animation. His next film with UTV is a fully animated feature.

Even as Bollywood gets animated, individual studios are springing up like call centres cracking new ice by creating original ideas and content sans a mythological character as well! For example, some of the animation providers in the market today are Green Gold and Nipuna Servives in Hyderabad, Graphiti in Mumbai, Toonz Animation in Trivandrum and Accel in Chennai.

More interestingly, they are driving into new foreign markets like the US, UK, Singapore and Australia, hawking their story-driven animation content for the television programmes market.

Chronicle of creativity
THE CHANGING face of India's fledgling animation industry is put into perspective by former adman Ashish Kulkarni, filmmaker, co-chairman of Animation and Gaming Forum of FICCI and academic head of the animation department at the Mumbai film school, Whistling Woods.
He points out, "We started out by working on production lines for 3D animation films though we had sporadic attempts at original content from companies like Pentamedia. Then, we moved to generating our own content for Indian television audiences on mythological characters and today, as a logical extension, we want to tell our own stories and make our own movies."

Ashish is currently busy with an animated television series on "Krishna", a narration of the little god's battles with monsters. This series, which will be released as a feature film, is being made for a heritage theme park constructed by the Bangalore based Heritage Foundation.
Ocher Studios Pvt Ltd in Chennai, managed by Rajnikanth's daughter, Soundarya, was a typical visual effects company involved in post-production work for different clients. But, as the animation market took off faster than Lighting McQueen last year, Ocher studios decided to capitalise on their existing technology and infrastructure and start developing their own content.

Kartik G, chief marketing officer, Ocher Studios points out, "There's nothing creative in doing just back-end jobs. We wanted to create our own content."

Sultan, the Warrior, a one hour 45-minute film is expected to be wrapped up by 2008 end. "The film, which is in the storyboard stage, will be packed with masala, songs, romance, fights and the music will be scored by A.R. Rahman," reveals Kartik. (Rajnikanth is backing the project and will give his voice over for the film) Ocher is also working on Om Ganesha, another animation movie for an NRI.

Sathish Narayanan, a veteran in this field, is director of the Chennai branch of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), the academic wing of Ketan Mehta's Maya Entertainment Ltd, a 3D animation and visual effects company in Mumbai.

He believes that Indian animation is striking out on its own because the outsourcing market has reached a saturation point. "The drop in the dollar rate has also made the original animation content market more attractive." Whatever the reason, the Indian animation studios are popping up like the BPO call centres.

CHENNAI'S LATEST entrant Accel Animation Studio (AAS) is investing nearly Rs15 crores this year to generate animation content. They have divided their animation work in three divisions: the services "outsource" work division; the IP development division creating content like the 133 episodic, 13 hour Thirukural TV series and the co-production division, in which they will partner foreign companies like Canadian production house Kahani World to execute different projects in animation.

"We are rolling out a 54-episode animation series - Raju the Autorickshaw - an Indian adventure for the international audience. This series is targeted at the direct-to-home DVD market anywhere in the world," says N.R. Panicker, chairman, Accel Transmatic Ltd, the parent company of AAS.

Panicker is excited about the huge opportunities in the animation market today. "There is big demand for Indian content globally. Our target audience is the international market. Long Tale, for example, will identify buyers for us anywhere from Argentina to Japan."

Similiarly, Rajnikanth, the sultan, will also sport an international flavour with Indian values. Whatever that means!

Even as Indian animation studios and film companies start their sojourn into foreign lands armed with their rich stories, the mediums have mushroomed. Luckily for them, there is an opportunity to release content on Internet, TV, DVD, mobile and in the gaming sector.
There are no limits to what you can do with animation content. Hyderabad animation company, Nipuna Services, has ventured further into fresh waters. Says a company spokesperson, "The demand for animation is steadily increasing and not just in the entertainment world. It is also employed extensively by the corporate world as part of their marketing, research and e-learning strategies."

Nipuna has teamed up with German powerhouse 4K animation to execute a 52 episode European TV series called Marvie Hammer. Created in 3D, 2D and live action, Marvie Hammer has been designed and animated by 4K.
Marvie is a presenter of a weekly bilingual TV science magazine for children. Eager for knowledge, Marvie takes control of a TV studio every night and introduces exciting and spectacular films on giant hornets, bears, tornadoes and ocean creatures.

"The concept is called Immersive learning and aims to teach English to the non-English world in Europe. This is done through advanced techniques of 'immersing' animation and voice into live action. Nipuna is executing the complete series for 4K animation," says Kulwinder Singh, DGM, global marketing and communications (GM&C), Nipuna. They have recently signed an US $ 8 million agreement with 4K to work on different animation projects.

No toy story
WHERE DO Indian companies strike these deals? "These deals are clinched at the largest annual TV programme market in the world like the MIPCOM and MIPTV held in Cannes," reveals Ashish Kulkarni. Held in October and April every year, Indian studios have been beating a path to these events for the last five years. In fact, the country of honour at the MIPCOM in October happens to be "India".

Though Ashish believes profit margins in this market are yet to be proved, Sathish Narayan has a different view. "Animation companies make a profit margin of 40 per cent and if the quality is reasonable they are able to sell in three markets - Asia, Europe and USA," Sathish reveals.

Having made a name for themselves in the field of IT education for 15 years, the Accel group of companies branched into creating animation content last year. "We expect to break even in the next three to four years," says Panicker confidently about his new venture.

"It might be risky for an animation studio to concentrate solely on IP content but it is also highly rewarding as well."

Where is the talent?
AS THE PIE expands where is the talent for this kind of high-end work? Ashish has a positive take on this. "The media has helped in making animation attractive as a career. Parents are no longer against choices like drawing, sculpting and painting. Today, artists who are highly sought after in this field can earn as much as a chartered accountant," says Ashish.
Kulwinder agrees. "There is a surge in animators. Entertainment and arts is now considered a serious career option. India has also seen a sudden spurt of animation training academies in the tier I and II cities. Iconic institutes like IIT's have also started animation curriculums. Some bigger players are constantly in touch with Nipuna to seek on-the-job practice for their candidates. The resource pool is being enriched continuously," he says.

But, having said this, Ashish also admits Indians are not skilled in all aspects of animation work. "We are good in the post-production aspects, for example, converting the script to screen. But, we are weak at conceptualising, original design and storyboarding," he admits.
For this reason, Ashish has roped in an American writer, the director of Spiderman TV serials for Krishna. Likewise, for Sultan the Warrior, Ocher is getting help from studios in London and Germany and from experts who have worked in movies like Matrix, King Kong and in Walt Disney movies.
Kartik points out, "There's a dearth of talent in India. Fifty per cent of the 100 animators we interview are not qualified. We need different professionals like modellors, sculptors, texture artists, painters, rope artists..."

Ranade says, "Our quality has improved though it is tough days yet. We are still new players in the field. But, we have to maintain a certain standard since we are competing with the big guys like Hollywood." Animation requires big money as filmmakers have scaled up their budgets to improve quality from Rs4 crores to Rs15 crores.

Companies are also constantly investing in new technology like the highly-expensive Motion Capture Studio. Accel has recently opened a studio at the KINFRA TV and Film Park at Thiruvananthpuram at a cost of Rs4 crores.

However, since strong anti-piracy laws are not in place original content is guarded very closely. Projects are done in a very hush-hush manner but it's no tall story that Indian animation content has arrived.

'I'm not bound by realism'
GOVIND NIHALANI breaks into a laugh if you ask why a master adept at portraying human relationships and hard-hitting social films on screen has ventured into animation.
"Why should directors be restricted to one kind of films? Why should we be placed in slots?" he asks. Claiming to be thoroughly enjoying making a 3D animation film, Govind is making the film entirely in a studio Iris Interactive in Chennai.

One of the reasons he's drawn to the medium, he says, is because he's able to find joy in a world where animals and objects talk.
"In animation, trees, flowers, things, all have a life like human beings. That's so nice," he says gently.