The Hindu Business Line : Waiting for that <I>desi</I> toon

India has the wonder technology, the best brains in animation and the creative edge to produce a world-class animated character. So why can't we blend our legends and software wizards to produce one?

If Mickey Mouse can enthral kids for 100 years, Winnie the Pooh for 89 years, the Flintstones and Popeye for about four decades now, can Krishna, Alladin and Tenali do the same? Can Hanuman become as popular as Superman or a Spiderman? How long will it be before the country of legends and software professionals can produce a world-class animated character? That's the million-dollar question haunting the $0.6-billion animation industry in the country.

Thanks to the new rush of outsourcing, about 70 studios have sprung up in India in the last five years, making it a more preferred destination than Korea or The Philippines. While it costs the US companies about $2,500 to $4,000 a minute to outsource animation programming in India and about $5,000 a minute in Korea or Japan, it would cost them about $9,000 a minute if done at home. National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) estimates are very optimistic: By 2006, the global market, which is currently $35 billion, would go up to $50 billion. India would command at least $1.5 billion worth of work from the animation industry. The number of jobs would go up from the current 4,500 to 20,000. But the truth remains that India, even with its quiver full of legendary characters and armed with the best IT education in the world, is yet to come up with an international animated character that has captured the child's imagination at a global level. Says Ashish Kulkarni, COO, Jadooworks, a Bangalore-based animation production house, "There are two reasons for this. One is the cost, which is extremely prohibitive. The second is that we not yet culturally sensitive to international audiences."

Talking of the cost issue, he says that producing a live action programme costs anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,00,000, whereas an animation programme costs about $1,50,000 to $2,50,000. "How many Indian studios can afford this?" he questions. The best option would be to co-produce programmes with the foreign channels. "We are urging the Government to make co-production with Asian producers mandatory."

The next issue and more an internal one (to the industry) is that of globalising Indian characters. Says Kulkarni, "Indians are familiar with certain cultural nuances that are totally alien to the American or the European child." For instance, he recently encountered a Hollywood-based producer who thought Devaki was "mad" to give birth to child after child when she knew that her brother would kill them minutes after they were born. Some of them could not comprehend the great devotion Rama had toward his father "that he thought nothing of shedding royalty as per his father's desire".

"In animation programmes, language does not matter so much as they can be dubbed in any language and the colour of the skin is no longer an issue. It's the story and the accent that need to have global appeal. Also, your characters cannot indulge in politically incorrect actions, you cannot show blood or guns in the programmes."

Another problem with international audiences is that they do not accept continuity in stories. Each episode has to be a stand-alone part telling a new tale every time. That could be one of the reasons why global audiences show little interest in Ramayana or Mahabharata.

Jadooworks, which is currently working on a Krishna script, with the help of ISKCON, has frozen the child god at the age of eight and his brother Balarama at nine. "We are trying to work on episodes revolving around Krishna at this age. Narrating his entire life and times will be too unwieldy and difficult for non-Indian children to understand."

While Pentamedia's Pandavas, ToonzIndia's Tenali and a few others have made an attempt in the past, it's just the beginning for the Indian animation industry. Says N.K. Narasimhan, Chairman, ANTS, an animation training school based in Bangalore, "There is no doubt that this is a white man's medium and it is imperative that he accepts our characters. Which is why you need to create global characters."

Narasimhan disagrees with Kulkarni's viewpoint that Indian legendary characters can be made international. "I firmly believe that you cannot turn existing Indian characters into international figures."

He, for instance, is working on an original animated character called Lido. "The storyline, the voices and the accents are extremely neutral and universal," he says.

Hyderabad-based Color Chips, on the other hand, is working on Indian characters such as Ramu, Shamu and Kapish, acquired from Anant Pai, the well-known figure in the Indian comics industry. Says its Executive Director, Y. Suryanarayana, "Chips is also in the process of working on these popular characters with a view to making Indian content popular globally."

On whether these characters have the potential to become as popular as Disney characters or Pokemon, he says, "Yes, they can, but a major constraint is lack of resources for Indian companies to market them effectively. All the famous hits that have been produced in animation such as Jungle Book and Lion King have essentially Indian stories. So, our characters definitely have the appeal and the inherent potential to be global ones." Jayakumar, COO, Toonz Animation India, a Thiruvananthapuram-based company, shares the view, "Anything Indian is hot in the West and Indian themes have suddenly become popular among western audiences. Toonz has created a series on Tenali Raman and is currently working on a series on Hanuman. The rich myths and colourful characters of Indian legends are a sure recipe for a successful series."

He cites the example of Pokemon (a Japanese character) whose success has been unprecedented and is a pointer for the future. Considering the current fascination for the Indian characters, a similar success for Indian characters cannot be ruled out. Atul Vohra, National Head, Sales and Placements, Arena Multimedia, says that India with its rich history and culture does not need to dive far beneath to unearth characters depicting both good and evil. "If created with panache and marketed well, Indian cartoon characters will live to see global popularity," he says.Kulkarni feels the Indian animation industry has matured a lot in the last five years. "In 1999-2000 we did a lot of work for Canada and Europe. Now we are doing better and moving up the value chain." Though the world is moving toward 3D animation and computer graphics, hand drawn animation (which is a more laborious process), is still very popular in the country, though we are slowly moving to the digital format. Today, animation is used in commercials, promotional films, music videos, computer games and for special effects in live action programmes. Though it's a great opportunity for Indians who have a natural flair for creativity and technology, we still have a long way to go, says Narasimhan.

"It's a laborious process and the artists draw about 35-40 drawings a day. The computer is of no use to a purist," he emphasises.

Kulkarni agrees, "It's true we have the right genetic material to succeed in this industry. And that's why I have brought artists from all over the country and trained them in animation."

Certain Indian traditions like the joint family system, where grandparents narrate legendary tales to grandchildren, is another contributing factor to this inherent skill of story telling.

"Don't you remember your grandmother telling you Krishna's tales with action?" he asks. Animation is just a modern form of story telling and grandma's tales have to be on a CD, he says. Jayakumar feels the animation done in India is on par with the best in the world.

"This isn't an empty boast considering the fact that the industry is still in a nascent stage in the country. With their refined art of storytelling and innovative use of animation techniques, Indian artists have put their best foot forward."

But Kulkarni has encountered aspirants in the profession who come armed with a course in multimedia or computer graphics and want to start work right away, and this can be disastrous, he feels. Being `good at computers' is not enough to make a mark in this industry. "It's like learning math with a calculator. I tell these computer professionals, first learn to drive, then the vehicle you use does not matter." Similarly, there's no use learning multimedia, he feels. How can a single person draw, paint, write lyrics, compose music and deliver dialogues? You have to have specialists, he insists.

Vohra highlights the importance of combining creativity and technology. "Traditionally the formal sector of the training industry has focused more on the creative mien of a person, brought out his latent talent, and transformed it to perceptible reality. This teaching does not involve training in the technology available in this field. There should be a balance between technology and creativity," he says.

A major vacuum that India faces in the talent box for this industry is in scriptwriting, says Kulkarni. "We have more producers than writers. Creative writing should be taught in schools." In addition, an animator has to be a good actor with a great sense of timing.

Suryanarayana admits that at present there are not many training schools offering animation courses. "There are a few institutes, but what they lack is the faculty with exposure to international production and quality standards." Lack of active, hands-on industry experience during the training period, absence of cutting edge software and inadequate infrastructure are proving to be the bane of the training industry, adds Jayakumar.

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar

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