The Hindu Business Line : Enter the dragon... on Discovery

Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, to be aired from August 6 for a week , is expected to attract many eyeballs as dragons have aroused interest across cultures and continents and continue to live through various modern manifestations, such as Harr y Potter, Dragonheart and Pokemon.

Chennai , Aug. 2

One has read about them, seen them breathe fire on screen, glare malevolently from picture frames, seen heroes slaying them with aplomb.

They have featured in diverse cultures, from South-East Asia to Scandinavia to Wales, but there's no proof that they ever existed. And Discovery Networks India is bringing to viewers a possibility of what might have been if Dragons did exist.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Rajiv Bakshi, Associate Director (Marketing and Communications), Discovery Networks India, said the television movie, Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, to be aired fromAugust 6 for a week , is expected to attract many eyeballs as dragons have aroused interest across cultures and continents and continue to live through various modern manifestations, such as Harry Potter, Dragonheart and Pokemon.

Techie treat to the eye!

The animated movie, commissioned by Discovery Channel, is a synthesis of dramatic recreation, computer-generated imagery and more research.

It was released two years ago in the US and was one of the highest rated television shows, according to Mr Bakshi. Though he would only say it "was very, very expensive," he said it took over a year to make.

The movie deals with how a dragon, had it existed, could have flown, run, breathed fire, reproduced and defended itself. It also visualises the kind of dragons that have found existence in myth and legend - the prehistoric dragon, the marine dragon and its forest and mountain counterparts.

On whether this programme was a first for Discovery — to interpret fantasy as reality — Mr Bakshi said this is the first dragon programme of its scale and size to be featured on the channel.

The channel had earlier done a similar exercise in a feature called The Plot to Kill Hitler, he said. However, the company had no plans to do a series of shows on fictional creatures, he clarified. Discovery has been advertising in print, on the electronic media, outdoors and on the Internet to build viewership for this two-hour programme.

"It is a very well-sold programme," said Mr Bakshi, adding that the advertisers are IBM, Nokia, Bajaj, HDFC, BPCL and naukri.com.

Dragons was nominated for two Emmy awards, in the Outstanding Animated Programme (For Programming One Hour or More) and Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Mini-series, Movie or a Special, in 2005.