The Return Of Hanuman

The Return of Hanuman, a series and not a sequel to the country's most successful animation film Hanuman (as projected through film), makes all tinsel town eyes glued to the box office barometer. The reason is simple and straight as Bollywood sees a promising future in the animation world in coming years. In 2005, the super success of 'Hanuman' made the entire film industry peep into the intricacies and technicalities of the animation world. It resulted in success of animation techniques in many films but full-fledged animation films in child-fiction segment like 'Krishna', 'My Friend Ganesha' and 'Bal Ganesha' failed to create the austerely charm of 'Hanuman'.


The Bollywood trade as well as and the producers are pinning hopes on animation films as their second best resort to hi-profile multi-starrers. The big hike in star prices and lack of available dates has focused all attention on the animation industry but the discouraging results of tell other stories.


Anurag Kashyap's directed 'Return of Hanuman' is presumed to be the costliest warfare in this genre. Kashyap has so far had a mixed year with critically acclaimed docu-drama 'Black Friday' and a washout in the form of poorly conceived 'No Smoking'. 'Return of Hanuman' holds major significance for him as well as for Bollywood as the latter is banking on the country's most successful animation film.


'Return of Hanuman' alienates itself completely from the concept of mythological animation drama projected in 'Hanuman'. The film has a contemporary modern world outlook where Lord Hanuman wishes to return to earth through the mischievous adventures of a modern day kid. 'Hanuman' had a huge success thanks to the engrossing narration that collaged effectively with impressive animation techniques and heart-throbbing music.

Earlier, 'Vaah Life Ho to Aisi' tried to mince and mix mythological characters and fictionalize it humorously in modern world decorum but results were neither promising nor encouraging. 'Return of Hanuman' takes all sorts of liberties in both characterization as well as narration in trying to rejuvenate these formulations. The film projects the voice over of many present day celebrity characters to evoke hilarity in the execution. It succeeds to a large extent in the first half but the second half is a bit dragging when the "asurs" from "Shukra Graha" attack planet earth.

Generally speaking, the success of an ideal animation film depends upon its impressive animation techniques, well-sketched caricatured characters, enthralling narration, crisp dialogues, imposing background music and finally tight screenplay that can crisply describes the entire eventful happening in the two-hour plus package. "Toonz Animation", the mastermind behind all animation wizardry delivers substantial work in executing of many enthralling scenes. The chirpy talk between Hanuman and Narad is hilarious while the caricatures of Rahu and Ketu are aptly designed. The film entertains but the fervor is restricted to some well-executed sequences.

'Return of Hanuman' starts off with Lord Hanuman showing great interest in visiting planet earth in the form of an ordinary human being. The song "Aasman Ko Chhukar", a fun-filled track where he experiences all the seven wonders of the world along with playing all major sports is the biggest highlight. The film picks up brilliantly and now it's all shouldered on the basic plot of the film. Lord Hanuman is blessed by Lord Brahma to return to Earth in the form of a kid called "Maruti". It's all due to the Shukracharya's curse that Earth has become hell and it's all up to Lord Hanuman to save fellow human beings from the ultimate disaster of baddies and "pralaya" (the final destruction of earth).


The scene where 3-month-old Maruti seeks admission in school evokes great laughter and is animated well. Maruti starts going to school and his peculiar adventures start taking place when he accompanies gloomy kid Minku. The football match sequence is another enthralling animated move that really sets the pace of the film. It is followed by many wild and madcap escapades where Maruti pulls himself and his friends out of trouble. The insatiable appetite of kid "Maruti" turns headache for the entire village. It even separates his bosom friend Minku and Munni from him.

The mysterious bunch of bad guys (One eyed man, Gabbar Singh, wolfs etc), hostages all men of the village and now captures Maruti in their evil web. The savior comes in the form of "Vaanar Sena", led by dude monkey who had voice over of Shahrukh Khan. The self-proclaimed Gabbar Singh along with "One eyed man" is defeated by "Vaanar Sena".There is some breathtaking "Matrix" style of animation where Maruti saves himself from volley of bullets. There is also amusement in the voice over of stars like Raj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar and Amjad Khan for the main villain of the film.

The scenario shifts towards "Shukra Grah" where "Shukra TV" announcers (sportingly funny) spread the news of loss of magical wand. Rahu and Ketu appoint two of their army men (in form of bees) to capture this magical wand from earth. The climax of film is all about fight for this magical wand and the final fight between "asurs" and Lord Hanuman on earth.

'Return of Hanuman' is an impressive piece of fiction with some finely delivered hilarious moments in the first half and enthralling moments in the second half. If compared to its predecessor 'Hanuman', it won't be as enterprising or bankable as far as the box office reports are concerned. The concept of mixing present day humor in mythological characters may be difficult to digest for every body while the low promotion has also failed to create buzz for the film. Tapas Relia's music is the highlight but the fun is simply restricted to enthusiastically fictionalized "Aasman Ko Chhukar" and to some extent in "Dhishum Dhishum". "Toonz Animation" has delivered potential animation work but it's still not up to quality mark depicted in 'Hanuman'. It was believed that 'Return of Hanuman' would be setting new records in Indian animation industry but the most successful animation flick 'Hanuman' still leads the show.

Krishna animated movie

Mythology has always enchanted audience world over and that too in various formats. Religious gatherings, books, comics, television, movies...you name it and you would find a way in which great stories from the past have been passed on from generation to generation.

Bollywood too has been contributing in its own way to this endeavor and though the volume of making films revolving around mythology may have diminished, the concept is still being kept alive by some entrepreneur film makers. After the phenomenal success of 'Hanuman' last year, Hindi film world would again witness one of the greatest heroes of all times, Krishna, albeit in the younger days of his life.

Though there would hardly be a soul who may not be aware about the stories revolving around Krishna, it is always entertaining to hear [and see] them all over again. This becomes especially exciting when it is presented in an animation format, which in turn becomes highly appealing to the kids.

'KRISHNA', a richly animated, musical feature film tells the story of Lord Krishna's birth, his childhood spent in Vrindavan and his slaying of Kansa, the evil ruler of Mathura. The film features various adventures of his childhood, including his clashes with demons like Pootna, Trinavarat and many more. This animated feature also brings to life Lord Krishna's naughty aspects like stealing butter, and other adventures.

Another enchanting aspect of Lord Krishna's life of playing the flute and bewitching the 'gopis', who become eternally devoted to him and indulge in Ras Leela, is beautifully depicted in this entertaining feature. Lord Krishna, as a very young man returns to Mathura and finally overthrows his evil uncle Kansa, thus bringing to an end this fascinating story of his birth and childhood days.

‘Krishna’, the 1st Hindi animated feature film on Lord Krishna is a Jayantilal Gada presentation and is produced by Shethia Audio Video Pvt. Ltd. The film, directed by Aman Khan, was 2 years in the making, with the skilled and colorful animation done by Media Solutionz.

The film features melodious music and songs composed by Rajendra Shiv. The soundtrack of the film features leading singers of the industry like Kailash Kher, Sonu Nigam, Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Alisha Chinai and Kumar Sanu. The haunting compositions have an everlasting flavor and shall definitely appeal to all. The background score by Bapi-Tutul lifts the scale of the film further, thus enhancing the viewing pleasure. All in all, the music of ‘Krishna’ is one to stay in the minds of listeners for years to come.

A highly colorful and entertaining feature film, the film is released all over on 29th September 2006.

Hanuman Music Rocks!!

Much has already been talked about India's first full fledged animation movie 'Hanuman' that has released all over this Friday. While the visuals have already made an impression and got the movie in the limelight, its music and the background score has been one of the prime reasons that makes the viewing of 'Hanuman' an enriching experience. Though there are multiple tracks by composer Tapas Relia and lyricist Satish Mutatkar in the album of Hanuman, almost all of them are mainly used as a part of the background score.

1) Mahabali Maharudra [Vijay Prakash, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Palash Sen, Kailash Kher, Madhushree, Sneha Pant ]

Album begins on a thunderous note with a high energy title track 'Mahabali Maharudra' and the impact of the track lives up to the title. The number is quite powerful and coming together of artistes like Vijay Prakash, Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Palash Sen, Kailash Kher, Madhushree, Sneha Pant only gives the track a grand appeal. Each of the singers get an even role to play in the song and appear in the specially shot music video of the number [that appears towards when the end credits roll]. This well written track by Satish Mutatkar is a good amalgamation of semi-classical music and grand orchestra that gets the album a good kick start.

2) Jai Hanuman [Kailash Kher, Shankar Mahadevan]

Since the album is for the movie 'Hanuman', it is inadvertent that all the songs would be focused around the great hero. 'Jai Hanuman' is about the 'mahima' of 'bajrangbali' and its the modern day treatment that makes it sound different from hundreds of other routine 'bhajnas' that you hear in albums about GODs hitting the stands every second week. Also, the presence of Kailash Kher and Shankar Mahadevan who have a distinct style of their own adds on an extra zing to the track

3) Akdam Bakdam [Shravan]

Shravan sings the best track of the album 'Akdan Bakdam' that has been designed specifically for the kid. Highlighting the games that 'Hanuman' played as a kid and his mischief and pranks, it is highly entertaining as all the factors from rhythm to rendition to the background chorus and above all the musical arrangements make it highly appealing to the children. Add to it the great visuals accompanying the track and rich colorful background and the song could give competition to any other children's song.

4) Jai Bajrangbali [Kinshuk Sen, Palash Sen]

This is yet another children's song that appears soon after 'Akdam Bakdam'. Usage of English words in the song makes it clear that it is mainly a song for the music album and is not present in the movie. A light entertaining song with lyrics that children can easily identify with, it is of the kinds that one hears in numerous kids albums.

5) Hanuman Chalisa [Nandini, Rashmi, Vijay Prakash]

In an album about 'Hanuman', the least one expects is the inclusion of 'Hanuman Chalisa' that is widely read across the world. One may also ask what's so different about it appearing as a part of the album. Well, this lengthiest track in the album turns out to be quite appealing as it is the musical arrangements that give it a contemporary touch. Fierce and subtle alternatively, this well sung piece by Nandini, Rashmi and Vijay Prakash can find a place in the collection of those who regularly recite 'Hanuman Chalisa'.

6) Theme Music and background pieces - Destroying The Ashok Vatika, Bridge Across The Ocean, The War Begins, Kumbhakaran, Raavan Goes To War [Swapnil Bandodkar, Vijay Prakash, Rajesh Jolly]

There are as many as six musical pieces that are either the theme tracks or appear during specific instances in the narrative of the movie. While one may not really play the album specifically for hearing these bac

Hanuman India no.1 Super Hero

Yup India own superhero movie Hanuman was released on 21st Oct-05. This movie was released on the time of Diwali festival so kids and everyone can enjoy it.

HANUMAN is about the extraordinary journey of this mythical superhero - from his days as an adorable, miracle-working baby, to his ultimate triumph in the army of Lord Shri Ram.

As a kid most of us use to read stories of our superhero, and now it like dream come true to see it on screen oh boy its awesome release…

But hold on it has very nice soundtrack composed by Tapas relia along with playback singers like Shaan and Sonu nigam. Hanuman’s voice has been dubbed by Mukesh Khanna.

Sahara One Motion picture is behind this movie, they spent around Rs. 2,50,000,00 for production and additional Rs.1,50,000,00 for marketing movie.

Overall rating 9/10
Animation and visual effects: 9/10

Frame by Frame, Animation Moves to India

If you have a date to go to the movies with a child this week, chances are good that part of the movie you'll see was made in India.The Golden Compass ,Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Incredible Hulk used digital animation that was created in Mumbai.

India is rapidly becoming a player in the global cultural marketplace, and animation is no exception. Los Angeles-based animation company Rhythm & Hues worked on the films from their Hollywood offices — and from the offices that they have opened in India. Employees stay in contact through daily video conferencing, bridging 12 time zones and 13,000 miles.

John Peskavich, sequence supervisor on The Golden Compass says that images are sent back and forth as revisions are made.
"It's tricky because you can't sit with the individual artist," Peskavich says. "But we can look at the shots together in real time."

Preshant Buyyala, managing director of Rhythm & Hues India, says the Indian office is not supposed to be an impersonal outsourcing center. He says that Rhythm & Hues opened its Mumbai office because the company was facing increased competition from abroad as countries such as Canada and Great Britain were giving tax breaks to their own animation firms.

"A lot of the work that we were working on was going away to the U.K. and we were finding it very, very difficult to compete," says Buyyala, who is of Indian descent. He says he suggested India as an attractive location for a new office because it is an English-speaking country with a competitive cost of living.

As faster Internet makes it easier to move large files quickly across the globe, Rhythm & Hues hopes to be part of the growing Indian animation industry. The Indian film industry is already huge, but it's almost exclusively live-action movies.

The animation business in India is expected to grow into a billion-dollar industry in the next few years, according to Pixel, a market research firm. Rhythm & Hues now has 200 employees in Mumbai and is opening another office in Hyderabad.

Animator Payal Danil says that working on Alvin and the Chipmunks has provided her with skills she hopes to someday bring to Indian films.

When work finished for Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Mumbai and Los Angeles staff used the video conference system to have an intercontinental wrap party.

But the animation crew in Mumbai has their work cut out for them — new films, including Mummy 3 are already lined up for production.

Bombay dogs

BOMBAY DOGS:
Bombay Dogs is about two street mongrels-turned-detectives, Moti and Kaloo. They are sleuths who operate in the streets of Mumbai and they fancy and model themselves on Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

According to the story line, the inspiration for that came first to Moti, who is the thinker in the team. Moti watched a lot of television series where his pedigreed cousins in the police department help bust drug gangs. After talking it over with Kaloo, Moti decided they would form a team to help detect crime.

Bombay Dogs is modeled as a fun series with adventure, humour and mystery.

Jadooworks, which has done the ideation for the series says, it has taken great pains to get the characterization right. Kaloo has been conceptualized as a white dog, physically more active though not as bright as Moti. He is the striker of the team and one who believes in action rather than thought.

In contrast, Moti is a jet black mongrel, brisk and full of energy. His passion is inventing new gizmos assembled from discarded appliances in the junkyard.

With such zany characters, Jadooworks is confident that its Bombay Dogs series will be a bit hit with viewers.

Mica

MICA:

MICA is UTV Toons' first full 3-D animated series. It is aimed at pre-schoolers and tells the tale of a family of stones in a pre-historic quarry. It is a land full of stones and the Pebbles family -- which are the main characters -- live there.

The series is a collaboration between UTV Toons and Ricochets Productions, France.

The 26-episode series will be telecast on several channels across Europe, including France 5, ORBF Belgium, RTV Germany, Teletoon France and others.

The Mumbai-based UTV Toons is the largest animation company in India and boasts of a facility with over 700 skilled artists.

In year 2000, UTV Toons, a UTV Group company, bagged a contract with the Canada-based Fun Bag, a subsidiary of Universal Studio for $65 million. It's show For Better Or For Worse is currently being aired on Teletoon, Canada and is based on a popular comic strip.

This year alone, UTV Toons' artists will produce 2,500 minutes of animation for TV and film. Among the other shows that it is working on are series like The Adventures of Oliver Twist for Fox family channel, Jo Kilat for TV12 in Singapore and a film for Unicef.

Gopal

GOPAL:

Based on one of India's best known mythological stories of that of Lord Krishna, Gopal is an animation series that is being produced by Jadooworks, a Bangalore-based company.

Jadooworks believes that India has a treasure trove of mythological stories to draw upon, which will greatly interest viewers, young and old.

Gopal, the series, is set in the countryside around Vrindavan, a village on the banks of River Yamuna. Planned in classical 2-D animation, it has stunning background shots (that use 3-D in some places) and each of its stories is based on the legend of Lord Krishna.

"A personality with invincible strength, unparalleled beauty, compassion and sharp intelligence, Gopal is absolutely adorable," says Jadooworks about its lead character.

Some of Gopal's friends in the series include Daksha, a talkative parrot; Dadhi, a gluttonous money, and Gai, a timid calf.

The villains and the tension in the story will come in the form of monster like Kaliya, Putana, Aghasura and Kamsa, all of which are drawn from India's rich treasure of mythological stories.

The full colour series will run in 26 half-hour episodes in the United States soon.

Tenali Raman

TENALI RAMAN:

Tenali Raman is among the most well-known and loved characters in Indian folklore. Toonz Animation has brought alive his legend through their series, The Adventures of Tenali Raman.

The court jester of King Krishnadevaraya, Tenali Raman is known for his wit and wisdom.

"Tenali Rama was chosen after looking at different characters and different stories. He appealed to us because he is a character anyone can identify with. He is not sacred and will be enjoyed by everyone," said Toonz Animation CEO Bill Dennis recently.

Over 15 episodes of the 26-episode series are ready and the rest are being created. The series is playing currently in India on the Cartoon Network channel.

Hanuman

HANUMAN:

Bored of American superhero icons like Superman and Spiderman?

Then Hanuman is here. It is based on the adventures of Hanuman, the hero from the Ramayana.
Hanuman has been created by the Kerala-based animation company, Toonz Animation. Three-year-old Toonz animation was rated by California-based Animation magazine as among the 'Top Ten' in its segment last year.

The Adventures of Hanuman, is shown on Cartoon Network, which has the distribution rights for India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan.

Toonz also feels that the 13-episode Hanuman series will have an edge as the Hanuman legend is known not just in India, but throughout Asia. In China, he is called Shun Wu Kong, the wind monkey; while in Thailand, he is the central character in Ramakiya, the country's most popular folk tale.

Alibaba

ALIBABA:

Alibaba and 40 Thieves was a 90-minute animated film made at $15 million by the Chennai-based Pentamedia Studios. It took just nine months from concept to completion.

The script was written by noted Tamil writer Sujata Rangarajan and was made using 3-D motion picture technology. The songs and background music for the film have been composed by Canada-based composer Praveen Mani and the audio was sold to Universal Studios worldwide.

Alibaba and 40 Thieves was accepted for Oscar screening under the animation category last year.

Pentamedia Studios has created a number of animation shows and is considered one of the pioneers of the industry.

The first film from the Pentamedia Studios was Sinbad The Sailor; and the second, The Pandavas, The Five Warriors, which won the National Award for Best Animated Film and the second Best Animation Feature Film Award at the prestigious Vancouver Animated Film Festival in 2001.

Pentamedia is now working on Son of Aladdin, a 90-minute 3-D animated feature film with a line-up of 21 lead characters, 55 secondary characters, 25 sets and 300 properties. Son of Aladdin is a sequel to Pentamedia's earlier series, Aladdin.

The Indian animation industry is set to register exponential growth, says Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom. The total animation production by India is likely to grow from $0.6 billion in 2001 to $1.5 billion by 2005.

Animation boom

India's animation sector is booming, with overseas entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony outsourcing more and more cartoon characters and special effects to India.

So what makes India a hub for animation? Why is the sector experiencing exponential growth?

In this special series, we take a look at what makes India shine in the world of animation.

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Tenali Raman, for long, has been a symbol of fun and merriment for generations of Indians.

Now Toonz Animation has made the court jester even more memorable. The Adventures of Tenali Raman, produced by Toonz, has wowed television audiences with Tenali's impish pranks and repertoire of jokes.

Produced in classic 2-D animation, Tenali Raman revolves around the clever adventures of the popular Indian folklore character.

The character of Tenali Raman has not just appealed to Indians. But he is also a figure whom Americans and Europeans are enjoying. The animated film was sold to television stations in Asia, the European Union, North America and Singapore by Toonz.

"Inclination to humour," says Toonz CEO P Jayakumar, when asked about why Indian animation films studios are able to bag huge animation contracts from across the globe.

Riding on the major success of Tenali Raman, Toonz has now embarked on producing an action/adventure series The Adventures of Hanuman. The proposed series have already been pre-sold to Cartoon Network Asia, and Toonz plans to launch the property in the Western markets.

More than that, Korean Production House ANI21 Co. Ltd has engaged Toonz to produce its new animated show Twin Princes. This big-budget project involves a six-minute trailer and 26 episodes (22 minutes each) followed by another series of 26 episodes of 22 minutes each.

Toonz will also receive ownership of the series in India and neighboring countries.

Another Toonz production called Maharaja Cowboy is a film about a newly crowned boy king from southern India who escapes the responsibilities of his palace and travels to the old west in the United States to discover his childhood.

Like Toonz, animation studios across India are bagging major contracts to create cartoon characters.

Bangalore-based Jadoo Works is producing an animated film series about Lord Krishna and the crime caper Bombay Dogs. Scripting and pre-production for these series are done in the US to ensure that they have universal appeal.

The Mumbai-based Maya Entertainment has produced special effects for The Mummy and Stuart Little. Maya is animating short films starring a character called Wabo, which the United Nations is using to educate worldwide audiences on the importance of fresh drinking water.

K Arvind Reddy, a Hyderabad-based freelance animator and an expert in the field whose hands are currently full with projects from across the seas, says that two streams of animation works are coming together in India.

First, foreign entertainment companies like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India. Other overseas firms are also outsourcing animation for commercials and computer games created in India.

Second, Indian companies are creating their own animated films based on characters in Indian folklore and mythology. "These films are not just for the Indian audience. Indian mythological characters are designed to impact a universal appeal. And there is a good foreign audience for these animated films," Reddy points out.

Many animation studios are targeting the global market by developing proprietary properties, often based on Indian stories.

Silvertoon is now producing an animated feature film on Lord Hanuman. It plans to release it in English and Hindi in the United States, the United Kingdom and Asia.

Wondertoons, a division of Oceanpark Multitech, has produced a to CD-ROM featuring stories from 35 nursery rhymes.

"On the one hand foreign animation studios are spreading setting up shops in India; and on the other, pure-play Indian firms are getting international assignments," Reddy says. "The animation industry is still in its nascent stage. It has great potential and India is cashing in on it these days," he adds.

Indian epics have colourful characters and offer a mix of rich mythology, dramas and fantasies that are considered the right content for animated cartoons.

Most animation companies follow a classical cell animation technique: every single frame is drawn by hand before being scanned, digitised and sequenced to form a complete animation story.

To bank on the animation potential, companies are also going aggressive.

Toonz, the cheerleader of animation in India, sponsors a Children'z Animation Workshop every year where thousands of Indian schoolkids submit their story ideas and character designs for consideration in making an animated film.

Also, the studio organises and promotes the animation festival, 'The Week with the Masters'. This biennial event brings top masters of animation from around the world to India to show their films and interact with Indian artists. The event also recognises the best films coming out of India in its film competition.

Experts say the future of animation in India is bright. "India has great stories, good cartoon characters from mythologies, good artists and technicians. Above all, we offer a competitive price, which nobody can match," points out Reddy.

Indian Animation Industry

India's animation sector is witnessing a major boom. Overseas entertainment giants like Walt Disney, Imax and Sony are increasingly outsourcing cartoon characters and special effects to India. Other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games.

So what makes India a hub for animation? Why is the sector experiencing exponential growth? In this special series, we take a look at what makes India shine in the world of animation.

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• A full-fledged feature film called Tommy and Oscar is in the final stages of production at the Toonz Animation Studio, Technopark, Kerala. A team of artists and technicians is working frenetically to complete the film for the Italian producer Rainbow Productions.
• Applied Gravity, a New Zealand-based company, has outsourced nearly 90 per cent of it animation work to Nipuna Services, the business process outsourcing subsidiary of Satyam
• Computer Servcies. An animatronics dog for Animal Planet (Discovery channel) for a popular episode called K9 to11 and animatronics models for New Zealand theme parks were some of the best-known creations of Applied Gravity in India.
• The Walt Disney Company has outsourced some of its major animation projects to various studios across India. Cartoon Network is buying animation films made in India. MTV has added India to its outsourcing hub along with the Philippines and South Korea.

  A new outsourcing fever has gripped India.

  Global entertainment majors like Walt Disney, Imax, Warner Brothers and Sony are signing up huge contracts with Indian animation companies.

  • And cities in India like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Trivandrum have emerged as the country's major animation hubs.

A slew of companies across these cities have dedicated themselves to the outsourced world of animation and special effects. These include Toonz Animation, Crest Communications, Maya Entertainment, Silvertoon Studio, UTV Toons, Zee Institute of Creative Arts, 2NZ Studios, Pentamedia Graphics, Prasad Studios, Acropetal, JadooWorks, Color Chips and Heart Animation.

These animation firms have set up large production studios that are equipped with state-of -the-art equipment and hardware and software like SGI, 3DMax and SoftImage, SFX and processing motion capture facilities.

"Work is pouring in from places like the United States, Europe and Asia in the form of outsourced projects and co-production deals," points out P Jayakumar, Chief Executive Officer of Toonz Animation, arguably India's biggest animation player.

Toonz Animation is a complete state-of-the-art facility, staffed with internationally trained creative professionals from around the world. Its primary studio, Studio A, is located at Technopark in Trivandrum where over 400 artists and technicians create animated 2D and 3D films.

Jayakumar says Toonz formats include episodic television animation, ad films, direct-to-video and feature length.

Animation veterans like Jayakumar says that India has become an outsourcing hub for animation films because:

• India has a vast base of English speaking workforce: Animation, which requires familiarity with the English language, benefits when the work is outsourced to India. A number of animation companies in the country are also creating skilled manpower for the animation market through various training programmes.
• Presence of good studios: India has the second largest entertainment industry in the world, after Hollywood. Animation studios in the country provide a large supply of low-cost, high-quality software engineers. A number of Indian animation companies have set up hi-tech studios (equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software) to execute overseas projects.
• Low cost of animation services: The main reason why foreign entertainment firms are flocking to India is the cost advantage the country offers. For instance, in the US, animators can cost about $125 an hour; in India, they cost $25 an hour. Toonz Animation offers animation at 25 per cent to 40 per cent lower rates than other Asian studios and much lower than those of American studios.

The total cost for making a full-length animated film in America is estimated to be $100 million to $175 million. In India, it can be made for $15 million to $25 million.

C K Prahlad, an animation consultant based in Bangalore, says the biggest advantage is the cost factor. "Indian animation companies are charging extremely low rates compared to other countries. That is attracting the Hollywood companies to outsource their animation film series to the country," he said.

Major US animation studios and producers are realizing this huge cost advantage that India offers.

"Due to changing viewing habits, channels or networks are being forced to bring down licence fees. As a result, the volume of work has been dropping.

In this situation, India's advantage of low production costs could be a boon to the domestic animation industry," said Margaret Dean, Sony Pictures' head of family entertainment group and a consultant to various animation studios in the US, during a recent India visit.

According to the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the total revenues of the animation production services sector in India were estimated by between $200 million and $300 million in 2004.

Nasscom estimates the animation sector grew at a rate of over 20 per cent last year. "Demand for animation production services from India is growing with the emergence of an organised animation production sector, with state-of -the-art of work required for international TV program production, at substantially lower costs," a Nasscom report said.

Last year, a Nasscom study on the animation industry showed that the global animation production market is set for major growth. The study, which is based on multiple statistical projections on the market, from segments such as industry sources, Pixel Inc and Arthur Andersen (Study on the Entertainment and Media sector) forecast that the global animation market would generate revenues worth $50-70 billion this year.

But which are the countries that India is competing with in getting animation outsourcing?

"Primarily, we are competing with China. But even here, our quality standards are much higher than Chinese studios," argues Jayakumar.

credit :rediff