Following the star of Indian animation and comics
with its three wise men
(Animation 'xpress article . 2005)
That flash of light....
That indication....
Good Times are around....
Let's follow the star....
With the three wise men!
{The views expressed in this feature, belong solely to the
speaker to whom attributed. Animation 'xpress may or may not subscribe to the
same.}
Nearly 5 decades ago,
India
was a newly formed nation.... it already had a legacy in terms of cinematic
excellence....
Animation, for the exception of the renowned Dadasaheb
Phalke or the Hunnar productions team was not existent in India.
Today,
There might be people who would still argue about existence
of original animation in the country... but there's certainly a great number of
Indian hands and minds at work, working towards doing better animation...
When it comes to animation, these 5 decades have their high
points as well as low points. The industry has had its davids and goliaths
too....
Chronicling the history of Indian animation is an exciting
prospect and there have been institutions and organizations who have worked
towards it..... we at Animation 'xpress, thought that it would be wonderful to
get together some of the industry's veterans, all 3 of whom have more than or around
50 years of experience!!
and we let the ink flow even as they mingled and
reminisced...
Presenting to our readers, an informal, casual conversation
with veterans Ram Mohan (Chairman - Graphiti Multimedia), Bhimsain Khurana
(President - Climb Media) and Anant Pai (Founder and Editor - Amar Chitra Katha
and Tinkle) .... in this special Animation 'xpress Christmas feature, 'Three
wise men of Indian animation and comics'...
...over a special lunch in their honor at Mumbai's 'Jewel of
India'.
Animation has so much to give for those who are
sensitive to it.
For those who coined 'Life begins at 40!', here's food for
thought, while coordinating the special meeting with the three wise men of
Indian animation and comics, it came as a pleasant surprise that though all the
3 esteemed guests were beyond 75, they were as busy and perhaps more so, than
the regular professional.
A few reschedulings and CO-ordinations later... Animation
'xpress finally managed to get a date, time and location that would suit all
the three!
Over to the three wise men now, without any more jottings...
presenting to you the conversation as it took place.
Ram Mohan: I will complete 50 years in animation in 2006. I
started out by doing character design and story boards. I remember it was for
"This Our India", an animated film adapted from a book by Minoo
Masani.
Actually I used to do cartoons as a hobby, I was a chemistry
student, I took the giant leap from chemistry to animation after meeting Clair
weeks from Disney, who served a 2 year stint at Films Division as head of the
cartoon films unit.
He asked me to join him as a trainee in the Cartoon Film
Unit at Films Division. Bhimsain also joined in films division - we were here
together for 10 yrs.
Bhimsain Khurana: I was fresh from Arts college in Lucknow, I used to get
excited to watch drawings move. Back then I never thought I would be in
animation.
Anant Pai: - I was working with the Times of India and I
remember we had special graveure printing machines, Palatia machines. These
were used to print calendars. P K Roy my boss called and told me that,
"Anant our machines are busy during season but they are not in use during
off season. Let's take some licenses to comics and use our printing
equipment"
He then asked me if Superman would be a good license to buy
and I conducted a small survey for the same. I found out that kids preferred
Phantom to Superman.
Animation 'xpress : So you have been in comics from even
before A.C.K? When did A.C.K begin?
Anant Pai: In 1967 Television had just begun in India on an
experimental basis. One fine evening in Delhi,
I happened to pass by a shop which had a television on display. I stopped to
watch out of curiosity, a quiz was on, the question asked was "Who is the
mother of Ram?" none of the 5 participants knew the answer. The next
question on the Greek god Olympus was answered
by all.
This stuck me. I realized that there was a need for
informing the youth of India
of our own culture. On returning to Bombay,
the thought still persisted in my mind. My nephews used to publish a small
magazine called the family magazine, they used to be crazy about comics,
Archies were unheard of then. There was a comic book I had read about an
English boy who wanted to go to the big city of London. Like a flash of lightning, it stuck
me that here was a way in which to inform the children of India about
their own culture. Besides I was also aware of the craze thanks to my job at
Times' Indrajal comics.
I took my idea to many publishers but in vain.
Animation 'xpress : Why did you not publish with Indrajal
comics where you were working?
Anant Pai: TOI is and was a mighty organization, it would
have taken a lot of persuasion and meetings before which I could even speak to
the people in charge .It was headed by R N Shukla then.
I left a very good job at the TOI to pursue my interest in
Indian comics. Finally I met G L Mirchandani and H G Mirchandani who showed
some interest(1970). They were however cautious and to begin with, asked me to
work on some fairy tales that they had rights for the Indian region to. The
first 10 issues of the Amar Chitra Katha were therefore not Indian culture or
mythology but tales like Red Riding Hood and Jack & the Beanstalk.
Animation 'xpress : What kind of characters were popular or
memorable in animation out then besides the Disney ones of course?
Bhimsain Khurana: I remember 1 character - Mauji Ram- It was
Ram Mohan's character. I was learning as an animator and was doing backgrounds
for it. Rammohan do you remember that stint at Prasad?
Ram Mohan: Yes I do, we were together at Prasad too. I think
it was between 1968 and 1971, I was with Prasad productions and then I started
my own studio in 1971. Prasad had a nice place in filmcenter at Tardeo. They
had an oxberry animation camera. It was surprising to see that Prasad which was
into live action, had invested a lakh and a a half rupees in an animation
camera. The funny thing is that they didn't know that animators were needed to
make animation from that camera and it wouldn't do things on its own.
When they got in the machine and realized that they would
need animators to use it, they were suggested my name. They contacted me and
asked me whether I was interested in shifting base to Chennai where they were
set up. I told I would love to use the camera but they would have to set it up
in mumbai. That's how when I moved from Films Division after being there for 12
years. I was with Prasad Productions for 3 years and then set up my own
independent unit in 1971.
Animation 'xpress : So were you one of the first animators
in the country?
Ram Mohan: We were one of the first few, but animation was
in India
since quite a while, on a small scale though. There was Hunnar films which had
2 partners, Baptista and Vijaykar, then there was Kantilal Rathod who had a
small studio. Then there was Dadasaheb Phalke earlier on.
Actually the story of how Dadasaheb Phalke did some
animation is interesting. He was a multi talented personality and was also a
very good magician. During the first world war, import of raw stock was shut
down. Dadasaheb had a little stock left with him and he possibly couldn't shoot
much of live action with it. So using his resourceful and creative
mind, he animated simple objects, like match sticks and
coins, pushing them around under his hand cranked camera , and photographing
them, one frame at a time
Dadasaheb also did a lot SFX using animation for
Harishchandra and other mythologicals he produced.
Animation 'xpress : If you were to start your careers, given
today's times and opportunities would you still like to get into animation?
Does that which attracted you to animation 5 decades ago, still exist in
animation?
{Img-3}
Bhimsain Khurana: See those times were different, there was
a lot of challenge.
We were actually like tapasvis, working in the dark studio,
drawing and painting each frame, shooting it and then waiting for the
processing in labs after which we could see the results. Then we would have our
corrections. It demanded a lot of patience... I think even today though the
tools have very much changed, animation is as exciting and interesting.
Ram Mohan:I have worked in conventional animation for 4
decades. Since the past 4 years or so I have been doing computer animation and
I have got fascinated by it. The challenge has been to create characters using
computer animation and to see if it is possible to get the same level of
flexibility as 2d on computer, that's the challenge and it is becoming very
much possible with the software getting to be more and more versatile with each
version. Computer animation has made me feel fresh and excited all over again.
Bhimsain Khurana: Today the art has grown, the tools have
changed, the results are more fascinating. Regardless of all this it is the
story that has to be well told and that will never go.
Anant Pai: I would like to add my own bit to this, I feel
that there is a lot of violence in animation today. I am releasing an animated
VCD this 19th. It is full of universal values for kids told in simple yet engaging
story format. The old woman and the beast has an animated uncle Pai and I have
sung for it too. It is flash animation and looks very appealing. The animation
has been done in Kolkatta. I have of course supplied my own storyboards and key illustrations.
Animation 'xpress : What work done in the past 5 decades has
given you the most satisfaction?
Ram Mohan: - When I joined Films Division, the kind of films
we did then were purposeful. After that I went into doing commercials for the
next 25 years. I do not remember much from those 25 years. I returned to social
communication with an initiative called Meena. Meena was a project for the
South Asia Regional Office of UNICEF. It was one of the most satisfying things
I did in my career. UNICEF gave me a lot of creative freedom. When I went to Bangladesh, I
realized how popular the character had become. Meena had become a cult figure
in Bangladesh
and that was one of the most personally rewarding projects for me.
Anant Pai: Krishna is one of my favorites and I must say
that the Amar Chitra Katha that I did on Krishna
is one of the most satisfying ones in my career. I also got a lot of
satisfaction from doing The Gita. I am satisfied with whatever I have done,
because I believe that one must do one's best and move on.
Till last year the Amar Chitra Katha had sold 86 million
copies worldwide and have been printed in 38 languages. The largest single bulk
order for any title has been for 50,000 copies of Jesus Christ (92 pages bumper
issue) that too in a local language called Ibaan by an organisation in Africa.
Bhimsain Khurana: For me its different, whenever I do
something, I feel dissatisfied at the end of it. There are so many flaws and
errors that I want to rectify.
I though am very happy with the kind of success that Ek Anek
Ekta met with. I did it for an organization called NCERT.I wasn't asked to come
up with a social message, I was given complete freedom and I just came up with
this and it became very very well known. Thanks to Doordarshan which might have
aired it thousands of times.
Anant Pai: Besides Amar Chitra Katha, I get a lot of
recognition for Tinkle too...
Animation 'xpress : So Life begins at 75?
Ram Mohan: For me it has just begun,and I have just moved
into the exciting field of computer animation. When we speak of film making we
consider 4 elements:
Narrative - Design - Sound - Performance
Animation 'xpress : What about creating animation for Indian
Television?How feasible and possible is it?
Ram Mohan: When we talk of Indian animation content, the
source is from mythology, and folklore, but beyond that we should also think of
the great visually rich Design culture that India has. There is such a rich
treasure house that we posses. It has been hardly used in Animation. I remember
one of Bhimsain's movies which was done on Warli paintings, it was so
beautiful. Let's do Indian designs and evolve our own style of animation. The
style of animation,in terms of its pace,fluidity, performance etc. is dictated
by the design. One approach we could use is of using lesser frames, limited
number of drawings,with greater emphasis on design and sound. That would help
in getting down costs, Today if we approach a TV Channel demanding RS 20 labs
per episode, they are going to turn it down. Animation is about narrative and
about style, we can surely work out cost effective alternatives to come up with
very interesting original Indian fare for the TV channels.
We can try Flash, or maybe simple cutouts, simple techniques
work within the
limitations and extensions of the technology you have and
still come up with interesting animation films (episodes).
"Today if we approach a TV Channel demanding RS 20 lacs
per episode, they are going to turn it down. Animation is about narrative and
about style, we can surely work out cost effective alternatives to come up with
very interesting original Indian fare for the TV channels" ____ __ Ram
Mohan Speaks
Bhimsain Khurana: - Whatever the technique, it is finally
about story telling.
Ram Mohan: To convert the vast treasury of stories and
design heritage into
animated content we require a good deal of money, just as
the Japanese developed anime we need to have our Indian ethos.
Bhimsain Khurana: Actually Ram Mohan, we did those kinds of
things earlier on didn't we? But we never got enough government support. I made
26 half hour episodes of Vartamaan for Doordarshan, following which I made Lok
Gatha which never made it to the screen thanks to the erratic and bureaucratic
functioning at the concerned houses.
Anant Pai: While you people are talking about Indian
flavors,designs and stories for making animated content, I would like to share
my view. I started with Indian mythology in Amar Chitra Katha but gradually as
ACK became famous and popular across the world, I started publishing titles on
world personalities and cultures across different lands. I think given today's
markets and global culture, we ought to teach the child the right values of
life when he is young and ready to imbibe.
Simple essential values like-
There is joy in sharing
Everyone in his place is important
There are so many simple values that make life better, these
values when conveyed through animation or comics are such that whether the
child is in India or Russia or France or US, the values are
universal, making content which such universal messages makes the entire world
an audience.
"There are so many simple values that make life better,
these values when conveyed through animation or comics are such that whether
the child is in India or Russia or France or US, the values are universal,
making content with such universal messages makes the entire world an
audience"__ __ __ Anant Pai Speaks
Ram Mohan: It is not easy to introduce different styles of
animation because the world has been so dominated by Disney and Hollywood. People are not
aware of the kind of animation done by eastern Europe. People used to jeer at
Japanese anime, but today anime has become a cult in the US too.
We have to find a way of popularizing different types of animation,
There have to be shows about animation films. We should do an animation film
show where different styles and stories in animation are shown to the audience
and each theme and concept is explained by Uncle Pai who has his own way with
kids and they love him. What do you say Pai?
Anant Pai: Of course that would be wonderful
Bhimsain Khurana: We need good film makers, exhibitors and
sponsors to come ahead and volunteer
I was thinking of a serial in which I start demonstrating
and teaching children about what animation is. We need to imbibe an animation
culture in our children. The attack has to be on all fronts. It will take yet
another generation of children, because the current generation has already got
its tastes and likes.
Anant Pai: Today the IQ in children is quite high but EQ is
low.
Animation 'xpress : What about contemporarising our content,
why dig into the past texts and content for coming up with Indian fare, why the
dhoti clad pandits and apsaras in every Indian fare?
Ram Mohan: Disney made a film called Mulan which had Chinese
clothes, Chinese fare yet people over the world liked it. Alladin was Arabic in
its look. As long as the story connects, I don't think there is need to
contemporise the look. In trying to ape the westerners we have degraded our
values We need to revive our values I feel sorry for Indian Kids.
Anant Pai: We have such a treasury of stories which are
about values. Kids, when exposed to those stories can grow mentally as well as
mature evolve emotionally. Did you know that the Panchatantra has gone all over
the world in ACK.
Ram Mohan: Panchatantra is but one small part of the Katha
Sarit Sagar
Animation 'xpress : What about Comics - do you see any
future in them in India?
Ram Mohan: Of course yes. We are doing work for the Johns Hopkins
University, they are making comics for
adolescents in Bangladesh
related to health issues. Comics always have an appeal. Even food and
agriculture related organizations come out with comics to educate the rural.
Anant Pai : Till today I am amazed and overwhelmed by the
kind of love and warmth I receive wherever I go in the world. The kind of
fascination that children the world over have for tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha
is amazing.
Animation 'xpress : What do you think is essential to the
growth of animation culture in India?
Ram Mohan: the training and academic approach to animation
is lacking. A lot of people have taken to animation as a vocation . Animation
is seen here as skilled labour. The animator is looked upon as either a
technician or a craftsman, he is not looked upon as an artist.
Animation 'xpress : Do you blame the sweatshop culture for
that?
Ram Mohan: I dont say that it is wrong ,the foreign exchange
that flows into the country is welcome and that is a separate track altogether.
The better it does the better for animation, but additionally we have to go
beyond that and see animation as an art form. Animation is film making in its
totality. Music, choreography, story telling, histrionics in the animating of characters.
We actually need to have an IIT for animation. Call it IIA. I would like to
talk about it to officials.
But there is another problem. Where is the faculty? We need
to get the teachers to come in and teach from abroad.
Bhimsain Khurana: An animator requires to be of a different
mettle. At least an animation film maker. It is a very personal thing, it also
requires commitment to society, a high intellect, values and a frame of mind.
Animation 'xpress : Do you think that most of the workforce
working in Indian studios today on International projects could be described in
the above terms?
Ram Mohan: There's no harm in work for hire, they will boost
the economy, but the bar of animation will not be raised by it. It is not
contributing anything to the Indian animation culture.
Bhimsain Khurana: There is money being put into animation
out here. But where is that money coming in from? It is the businessmen who
invest and their objective is single to make more money. They look at animation
as one thing - Business.
Animation 'xpress : What are your ambitions today?
Ram Mohan: - Animation education -
Today the only source from where I can get good talent is
the NID. I have been sponsoring students from the NID for the past 3 years in
their diploma projects. I hope to continue to do that.
I look upon the Films Division as my Alma Mater and it makes
me sad to see that it is going to seed. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised to
see them get in digital technology finally this year. I have also encouraged the
NID students to approach the CFSI and Films Division. I liasoned between them.
I have also advised the films division not to depend on their staff of 10-15
people who are all set to retire. Get freelancers and put your digital
equipment to use is what I tell them.
Bhimsain Khurana: It is too early but there is something on
my mind, I will talk about it when I make up my mind. When I cam to Mumbai from
Lucknow, I had
nothing. Ram Mohan has in a way been my teacher, he's taught me a lot.
Animation 'xpress : I was with some very bright youngsters
from the industry yesterday,they were talking about collaborating and sharing
knowledge. What do you have to say about that?
Ram Mohan: See, As individuals we Indians are all very
creative and talented, but when we are put together, things don't work out
well.
Animation 'xpress : But sir, the same creative and talented
Indians when put together in Live action come up with so much of great stuff
like for e.g. Lagaan
Ram Mohan & Bhimsain Khurana in unision: Lagaan had
great individuals like Ashutosh and Aamir at the helm. You need strong
individuals to drive and bind teams.
Animation 'xpress : Which animation coming out of India
has been impressive lately?
Ram Mohan: The Deewana music video surely comes to mind.
Shrirang and Suhel have done some amazing animation. I loved it and was very
amazed to see the kind of applause that this Indian entry got from the audience
at the Annecy Festival this year. It won an award there as the best
commissioned film of the year!
Yet another animation that comes to mind are the elf
commercials. I think Chetan Sharma(Animagic) has done them. The commercials are
very very impressive.When I see great work coming out of people who have worked
with me, started their career in animation with me, I get a lot of
satisfaction, I loved Simi's work in Ice Age too. She too started her animation
career at Ram Mohan Biographics.
Animation 'xpress : You and Bhimsainji must be having quite
a few anecdotes to share?
Bhimsain Khurana: Oh yes, Rammohan do you remember the
Andaman episode?
Ram Mohan (Laughing): Oh yes, see besides doing character
animation, there was a lot of maps and documentaries that we did while at Films
division. During the China
war, we were doing a map of India.
The map was included in a short film There were about 6 levels of screening
before a film finally got the screening certificate. This particular film was
at the final screening in front of the review committee and someone suddenly
noticed that there was no Andaman and nicobar in the map of India. This was
after 5 screening commitees had passed it.
Bhimsain Khurana: And you know who was blamed? The poor
artist who animated the
map.(Laughs)
Animation 'xpress : In 5 decades you must have worked with
quite a few people - some remarkable people whom you'd like to talk to us
about?
Anant Pai : The notable illustrators who breathed life into
the ACKs were Ram Waeerkar, Dilip Kadam , Souren Roy and Pratap Mullick.
Artists like Ram Waeerkar and Pratap Mullick did a lot of research work on
their own and this used to show in their work.
Dilip Kadam has his own art unit at Pune called Trishul
Comico Art. Together with his son Omkar they supervise a team of around 10
artists, doing illustrations for comics and also animation work.
Ram Mohan:
G.S.Saraiya - He was the officer in charge of the cartoon
film unit at Films Division in the early 60's (He is the maker of one of India's biggest
and highly acclaimed movies -Saraswatichandra)
Pramod Pati - Pramod wasn't an animator, but he had received
some training from Jiri Trnka from Czechoslovakia. He brought in a lot
of sensibilities in terms of design. Claire had inculcated in us a Disney
sensibility while Pramod brought in his exposure and experience from Eastern Europe.
Jahangir Bhavnagary - Before deputing at Films Division for
a couple of years, Jahngir had been head of UNESCO at Paris. He made the remarkable films
RADHA_KRISHNA and AKBAR where he shot miniature paintings with a rostrum camera
and the films were very
beautiful. His miniature film RadhaKrishna got an award at
the Berlin
film festival among many others.
James Beveridge: James was an ace documentary film maker and
he had a lot
of views and comments to share on our animation projects.
Ram Mohan: - Once we moved to Prasad Productions, we had a
lot of contact with mainstream film makers. We did an animated song for BR
Chopra's Pati Patni aur Woh, then there was the opening sequence in Satyajit
ray's Shatranj Ke Khiladi. The animated opening sequence was a political
cartoon, and was done in the typical east India company kind of drawings. We
did an animated sequence for Mrinal Sen's hindi film, Bhuvan Shome, for Raj
Kapoor's Biwi O Biwi, then there was this interesting thing we did for Do aur
Do Paanch. Very often though we never got our remuneration from some of these
film makers.
Another interesting thing that happened recently was when I
met Rakesh Roshan for Jadoo. I had done an animation for his film Kaamchor long
ago and he instantly recollected that.
Animation 'xpress : What International animation has
impressed you lately?
Ram Mohan: TV cartoons are sometimes innovative: Samurai
Jack was refreshingly different when it started. The designing was beautiful.
But they soon begin to pall because the story ideas are so repetitious.
Then there are a lot of lovely shows being made for pre
schoolers. One of the best ones according to me is Kipper. Then there is Jungle
Book.
Talking about opportunities and where we could have evolved,
it would be necessary to understand that most of the years that we were in
animation, it was not this glamorized and high end profession that it is
portrayed as today. 50% of the work I did was commercials.
You know what, Animation has so much to give for those who
are sensitive to it.
I remember while working on Meena for UNICEF, Meera aghi who
was in charge of testing the Meena films across the south asian countries was
very skeptical about animation working well with the rural people of 3rd world
countries. She took the films to a tour of across the Indian sub continent
visiting countries such as Pakistan,
Nepal,
Bangladesh etc. On returning she came to me and said,"I take back my
words, animation works very well with them. It is so fascinating to observe
them identify with these drawn characters, responding to them as if they were
real people"
Bhimsain Khurana: I must say one thing that how much so ever
we talk about animation training or animation education. A man is a born
animator. Look at Ram Mohan or myself, we never knew we were going to get into
animation, we just sort of glided into it. Look at Mr Pai, he is a science
student he just got into story telling. There is an X amount which can be
taught but it is best to evolve by following your own instincts and observing
and learning from the work of the greats.
"The most uncorrupted way to learn animation is to
follow one's own instincts. Best artists never come out of art schools.
Animation will always remain a very personal art"__ __ __ Bhimsain
Khurana speaks
The most uncorrupted way to learn animation is to follow
one's own instincts.
Best artists never come out of art schools. Animation was,
is and will always remain a very personal art.
Much as we would love to go on... our esteemed guests had
their schedules and meetings to follow. The 3 hours alloted to us were coming
to an end.... but the story doesn't end here... it goes on... keep reading
Animation 'xpress
-
Anand Gurnani
-
Animation 'xpress is an Indiantelevision.com
publication
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