India and Singapore based animation studio, Cosmos-Maya has announced that its latest offering, Dabangg animated series, will be arriving soon on Disney+ Hotstar VIP. The Disney and Star India owned streamer will stream 104 episodes of the animated property upon release.
Co-produced with Arbaaz Khan Productions, Dabangg is adapted from Salman Khan starrer blockbuster film franchise which celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. Dabangg (2010) broke records and introduced the character of Chulbul ‘Robin Hood’ Pandey which went on to become very popular.
Commenting on the announcement, Cosmos-Maya CEO Anish Mehta said, ”With Dabangg, we are venturing into untapped space in the Indian animation market in a narrative format that provides audiences with familiarity and novelty. With this project, Cosmos-Maya will enter a new market space where we get to give our spin to brand extensions of well-loved mainstream film franchises and characters, and will surely pave the way for a lot more prospects of a similar nature in the future, a plan which is already in motion with projects in partnership with three major Bollywood franchises planned for 2021. We are glad to have found a long-term business partner in Disney+ Hotstar which started with our relationship by onboarding 234 half hour episodes of our immensely popular title Selfie With Bajrangi.”
Dabangg is part of Cosmos-Maya’s strategy to bring in progressive disruption in the animation business. The arrival of the show will herald a new direction for the studio, successfully facilitating the transition of popular live-action characters and IP that have become household names into animated spin offs. Collaboration with such a brand allows the animation studio tremendous scalability potential within the industry with multiple similar future projects that translate into much higher revenue potential.
Actor-turned-producer and owner of the Dabangg franchise, Arbaaz Khan stated, “It is great to have Cosmos-Maya on-board for bringing Chulbul into a fresh format. They understand the universe of Dabangg and we’re confident in the way they’ll get our characters to translate into a colourful format. It is a really exciting time for us and we can’t wait to see kids give the same ‘swagat’ to Chulbul and his posse as audiences have done over the past decade.”
With Discovery Kids’ Little Singham setting the trend, the Indian animation industry has seen a successful romance with famous Bollywood franchises. From Golmaal Jr. (Nickelodeon Sonic), to Fukrey Boyzzz (Discovery Kids) and now Dabangg, the trend seems to have more to offer to the Bollywood loving younger generation.
After Motu Patlu, which is viewed by close to 500 million people and recently crossed 1000 episodes, this is Cosmos-Maya’s second animated show featuring an adult protagonist. It will feature animated avatars of all of the film’s characters. Targeted at kids and their family, the first season will roll out in summer 2021.
Earlier, Mehta told AnimationXpress, “Dabangg will cover Chulbul Pandey’s day to day shenanigans with his entourage of policemen backing him at each step. He stands in the face of evil to keep the city safe, but always has the time to lighten up the mood with his jokes, limericks, and one-liners. He is joined by his endearing younger brother Makkhi, who is new in the police force and tries to emulate his elder brother. The show will have never-seen-before animation quality and Bollywood inspired storytelling. It will be our endeavour to further extend the reach of this iconic brand so that more kids, teenagers and families are engaged and entertained.”
