All Entries in the "Bollywood" Category
Shemaroo Entertainment’s home production animated film ‘Bal Ganesh’ bags two Awards!
The Li’l Star Awards presented by Red Chillies Entertainment took place at Yash Raj Studios on 31st October and was attended mostly by the stars of Bollywood. What was unique about these awards was that thousands of children from 25 cities in India chose the categories and selected the nominees through a national survey. The final jury for the awards was headed by Neetu Kapoor and comprised of popular child actors from film and television.
latest@allaboutanimation.com - Podcast review of ‘Roadside Romeo’
While on the topic of ‘Roadside Romeo’, I requested my friends at twoandahalfiyers to share their review of the film with All About Animation. Unlike most typical ‘Bollywood’ reviews, these three young artists/students from NID, one of whom is an animator himself, offer a fresh perspective on the film.
The trio comprising of Rohit, Avinash and Akhila review a different movie every few weeks and their podcasts can be downloaded from their blog twoandahalfiyers.blogspot.com. This is their very first review of an animated film and though their podcasts can get quite lengthy, I highly recommend them.
Roadside Romeo bedsheets anyone?
If you are one of those rare ‘Roadside Romeo’ fans, you can now go to bed with the cast, for a small price.
Roadside Romeo, Laila and Charlie Anna
Before you jump to any conclusion, let me clarify that I’m talking about movie merchandise here. The highly anticipated, first ever feature-length 3D animated Indian film may not have set the cash registers ringing or earned too many fans, but a tie-up between YashRaj Films and HomeShop18 will allow you to own a range of specially designed ‘Roadside Romeo’ products including a special bed sheet with dazzling images from the movie, branded Water bottles, tiffin boxes, CD cases, pencil boxes, mugs and notebooks.
Waiting for Arjun…
I was in a suburban movie theatre 2 nights ago watching “A Wednesday” when they screened the trailer of UTV’s upcoming release - Arjuna, The Warrior Prince. Not that I hadn’t seen it before (thanks to YouTube!!) but experiencing it on a big screen was a whole new experience. I was amazed. This is an Indian big-budget production that we can be proud of. If the trailer is anything to go by ( and they can be misleading some times) the quality is top-notch. (See the YouTube sneak-peek at the end of the article)
Until now the only truly ‘artistic’ animated films from India that I had seen were either independent films or student films from institutes such as NID and IDC (IIT). But large scale productions have always fallen short at some level. Maybe it was the lack of vision, time, patience, knowledge or perhaps all of these. It can’t be budgetary constraints - an individual superstar’s fees for a single Bollywood movie can fund an entire animated film! But Arnab Chaudhuri, the man at the helm of Arjun, surely knows what he is doing. An alumnus of the National Institute of Design and ex-Turner Creative Director, he seems to have what it takes to do justice to the story and the medium.
The animation style appears to be a combination of 2D and 3D - the final look and feel is of 2D animation but the fabric, the water and the movements of the characters are distinctly 3D. The film is reminiscent of Disney’s Prince of Egypt while Arjun could easily be the long-lost brother of Tarzan! The script writers seem to have taken a few liberties with the story but that is what great story-telling is about; retelling an age-old tale and embellishing it with one’s own visual interpretation.
This is the second Indian animated film that holds a lot of promise, after Yash Raj Film’s Roadside Romeo, which is an out and out 3D animated feature. I am looking forward to both of them and so is the entire Indian animation community. The Indian audiences have got a raw deal from some haughty, talent-less so-called animation film makers - a case in point being the makers of the recent ‘Icy n Spicy’, who thankfully got the boot from the audience! Roadside Romeo and Arjun should more than make up for it and once and for all dispel the myth that Indian animation lacks talent and vision when it comes to original IP productions. Until the movie releases, enjoy the trailer 
After mytho, what next? Serve old wine in a new bottle!
How do some creative Indian film producers combat the slew of animated mythological movies? By making animated versions of old Hindi classics! Why bother with writing an original story when you can just buy the rights to a successful movie from another era and package it as per the flavour of the season - Animation!
Don’t believe me? Read this news report on Pritish Nandy Communications’ latest venture - animated remakes of three Shakti Samanta golden oldies - Howrah Bridge, Amar Prem and Barsaat Ki Ek Raat.
Pritish Nandy announced, “This is my homage to one of the most underrated filmmakers of the country. When I met Mr. Samanta, he was so pleased to know his films would reach out to a new generation. Howrah Bridge is one of my favourite noire films. The magic of Sachin Dev Burman’s music, the chemistry between Ashok Kumar and Madhubala and the seductive charm of Ashok Kumar’s baritone….all that I want to capture in animation form.”
Icy N Spicy …God help Indian animation!!!
Animation lovers of India, unite! And do something to stop this movie from shaming us in front of the world!
It’s been a long time since I last blogged but this frightening piece of news brought me back from my brief blog hiatus. Apparently, India’s First 3D Mainstream Animation Movie is about to be released on 18th July. It’s called Icy N Spicy - A Journey to Tonga and is produced and directed by Anil Goyal, “a most experience person in the field of 3d animation” (that’s what his website claims). You only need to take a look at the stills from the movie (see below) to know why it is something we all need to seriously worry about.
Dhimant Vyas and the ‘making of TZP clay animation’ on CNN IBN!
Taare Zameen Par has not only caught the fancy of the nation as a warm and touching film, but its clay animation sequence has enthralled audiences as well. After we featured the making of the TZP clay animation on the AAA blog (see here), others have followed suit, including Indiafm.com and now CNN IBN.
Last night, CNN IBN had a special interview with Dhimant Vyas and it will be screened today as well at 2:30 pm IST on the CNN IBN channel. Dhimant certainly deserves the accolades he is receiving for this mini-masterpiece that kids and adults alike have found fascinating. Here is the link to the CNN IBN video interview:
Interview with Dhimant Vyas on CNN IBN
Also read…
The AAA interview with Dhimant Vyas on the making of TZP’s clay animation and photos.
Photos and the making of TZP Clay Animation
Hear it from the maker himself…
Dhimant Vyas talks exclusively to All About Animation
and shares photos from Taare Zameen Par’s clay animation sequences.
