The Hindu Business Line : Host of small firms enter animation bandwagon

Mumbai, March 26 Small and medium companies are betting big on the growth of the animation industry in India, many of them first timers in the business of production.

Green Gold Animation Pvt Ltd, which until now outsourced work for Cartoon Network and Pogo, is producing its first original animated film, Chhota Bheem, in a 26-part series. The Hyderabad-based company is confident of breaking even after release.

“We are barely a Rs 2.5-crore company with 108 employees, but our projection is to reach Rs 5 crore post release,” said Mr Rajiv Chilakalapudi, Founder and Managing Director. The investment on a low-medium budget film is Rs 5 crore for the company, he said.

For Mr Deepak S. Jadhav, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, DREAMS (Deepak Raj Entertainment & Multimedia Solutions), Kutti Chetan will be his first independent production venture, after assisting with Hanuman and Ghatotkach. The seven-month-old production house has two more films in the conceptual stage — The Trap and Inside Me and expects to do business worth Rs 20 crore after the first film is released.

He pegged the budget of a 2D film between Rs 9-11 crore and that of a 3D film at around Rs 18 crore. According to him, making animation films in India was five times cheaper than in Hollywood, due to cheaper technology.

In contrast, Shemaroo, which released Bal Ganesh, is going all out to spend an estimated Rs 15-20 crore (including its marketing costs) on its next venture, Ghatotkach.

Ms Smita Maroo, Vice-President, Shemaroo, feels that with 80 announcements made for animation films, some players might be jumping the bandwagon and there might be failures. “Nevertheless, it is good that so many people are willing to bet their money on animation films and everybody will grow with the learning curve.”

She stressed that this was the right time to take risks and distributors would be a crucial link in the success of animation films, as their competition were films of Shah Rukh Khan.

Growth outlook

The animation industry, along with gaming and VFX, is projected to grow at the CAGR of 25 per cent, second only to online advertising in the entertainment and media industry, for the next five years, according to the FICCI-PricewaterhouseCoopers report.

The animation industry was pegged at Rs 1,300 crore in 2007, up 24 per cent from the previous year’s Rs 1,050 crore.

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