Animation goes Main St with big budgets

Companies now spend Rs 25-45 crore — or as much as a big film — to make animation movies

MUMBAI: Roadside Romeo, Toonpur ka Super Hero, Sultan: The Warrior, Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena 2.0, Mahayoddha Rama, Arjun… Tripe, trite, tiring movies?

Far from it.

Each of these is an animation film, and will cost Rs 25-45 crore to make apiece.

That’s more than the average cost of a Bollywood film with a reasonable sprinkling of stars.

Indian animation has certainly hit Main Street.

This Diwali, neighbourhood multiplexes will begin screening what could be the first of many lavishly made, homegrown animation feature films —  Roadside Romeo.

It comes from the biggest banner in Bollywood, Yash Raj Films.

It does not feature the standard hero and heroine gyrating on the lush green slopes of Switzerland.

Instead, there is Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor give voiceovers for, guess what —-a dog and, er, a bitch.

The film industry, which tasted mega success through Hanuman in 2005, is now trying to take the animation genre commercial and mainstream.

This is exemplified by the high budgets in the range of Rs 30-45 crore per film being spent by UTV Motion Pictures, Eros, Adlabs and Pritish Nandy Communications among others. (See chart).

Thanks to the allocation of lavish budgets, technology and trained manpower, local animation studios such as Tata Elxsi, 2nz, Pixion, MEL are executing these projects.

The producers of these films agree that its still early days to speculate whether these films will spell box-office magic or not.

From what’s in store, it seems producers are working on stories that are not the conventional mythological fare, which became a norm, after Hanuman’s success.

Sanjeev Kohli, CEO and director, Yash Raj Films, said: “Roadside Romeo, which we’re making in partnership with Walt Disney, has been created to appeal to all age groups. It has all the trappings of a commercial Indian live-action film, with songs and dances, with drama and a storyline, which appeals to a wide spectrum of film-viewers.”

However, whether this will manage to draw audiences to theatres remains to be seen.

“As a genre, animation is still perceived as kids’ entertainment. That can change, if the right script and marketing push is given by the producers. Big banners like Yash Raj have the capability to do so,” said trade analyst Komal Nahata.

Indeed, for Roadside Romeo, YRF has been screening theatrical teasers and trailers for several months, to build up curiosity for the film.

What’s more, producers have brought into force the studio model approach —-mastered by international animation biggies like Pixar, Walt Disney, and Dreamworks.
Arnab Chaudhuri, director of Arjun, a UTVMP film, said, “We’re conceptualising films that will help us earn revenues from merchandising, gaming and home video.”

However, it’s still time before exhibitors open up to Indian animation films in a big way.
“There’s reason to be optimistic, because audiences these days want something beyond the usual fare. Distributors and exhibitors want to see at least one commercial success in animation, after which there could be a demand for more,” says Nahata.
c_arcopol@dnaindia.net