Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Aug 15, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Aug 15, 2002 |
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Info-Tech
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Outlook Netguru eyeing animation sector Our Bureau
KOLKATA, Aug. 14 NETGURU (formerly Research Engineers Inc) has identified major business opportunities in the Indian animation industry. The latter, which now has a turnover of around $200 million, is estimated to grow by several times in the next few years. The company, a Nasdaq-listed venture, is trying to capitalise on the growing market for animation worldwide, said Mr Amrit Das, Chairman of Netguru Inc. He was addressing a presentation in association with the American Centre on Wednesday. Indian personnel, despite being good artists, are largely hamstrung by a lack of technical knowledge and the right training — an area that needs to be addressed immediately. The idea is to move in tune with the changing preference of user-segments. Animation, it is pointed out, is quite different from simple drawings; it needs technical support in a big way. Indians have the potential of being good animators too — a la the Koreans who have become the world's top producers of animations. ``Computer-generated production has also become the in thing, and India is well placed to catch up with industry demands,'' Mr Das noted, adding that the domestic entertainment sector (that is, the music industry, films and animated serials) will form the focus of Netguru's attempts to build its market share. On the domestic front, Netguru is bullish on the digital animation business. Its current product-mix includes 2D and 3D animation, documentaries and feature films. It has recently produced a film on cancer, titled `Will to Live'. A second — a commercial venture — film is also progressing. Biswa Bharati, the repository of Rabindra Nath Tagore's works, has sought assistance from Netguru in this regard, Mr Das added. Incidentally, work on this front will be produced in Kolkata. The company is also looking at investment opportunities in related areas of growth. Films are expected to remain high on its agenda in the coming days, while top-end digital solutions (a demand coming from the corporate sector) also look promising, it is noted.
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