Green Gold Animation, creators of popular kids’ television character Chhota Bheem and producers of two full-length animated movies based on the same character, is now set to unveil its third celluloid offering.

‘Mighty Raju Rio Calling’, featuring the character of Mighty Raju, a friend of Chhota Bheem in the TV serial, is set to hit 300 screens across the country in mid-May.

With the tagline, ‘Soccer, Samba and Samosas’, the film is based on soccer and set in Rio de Janeiro.

“We expect this 2-D animated film to do better than our earlier two films, as it has a perfect blend of sports, action and superhero masala. We will be undertaking a unique campaign, involving brining a kids’ carnival to the theatres screening the film,” Rajiv Chilaka, managing director of Green Gold and director of the film, said.

The firm’s first film on Chhota Bheem registered the highest box office grosser of Rs 5 crore in the Indian animated film sector, while the second film, released last year, did about Rs 4.5 crore.

“For Mighty Raju Calling, our budget was Rs 4 crore, apart from Rs 1.5 crore on marketing. We expect it to touch Rs 10 crore in the box office,” Chilaka told media persons here today.

For the first time, an animated film will feature in-film branding with brands such as Adidas, ITC and OLX.

A phalanx of 150 animation artists spent about a year to make the movie, after a team spent several days in Rio de Janeiro to bring home the Brazilian environment. The title song is sung by Sunidhi Chauhan, with most of the music recordings done in Rio to capture the original sights and sounds.

The company is currently working on its fourth celluloid outing, which will be a 3D animated film, featuring Chhota Bheem. “We are collaborating with studios in China and New Zealand for the film, which will feature kung-fu. It will be released next year,” Samir Jain, producer, said.

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