Conceived by Kushal Ruia, the Creative Head of ACK Animation Studio projects, 
Shambu and the Man-eater is a 6 minute 3D stereoscopic short film. ACK Animation Studios is all geared up to release the short film worldwide with their first ever full length 3D stereoscopic animated movie Sons of Ram hitting the screens on 2nd November this year.
Directed by Santosh Palav, the whacky and whimsical Shambu and the Man Eater is inspired by the classic Tinkle favorite charcter, Shikari Shambu, which is now brought to life through animation for the audiences. The short film has been developed in-house at ACK Animation Studios with the production executed by Amit Rathor and Dhananjay Bhopale of Side FX Entertainment.
This short film is the first in the Shambu series and it has taken over 6 months to complete it with around 100 artists dedicating their time for its making.
Speaking to Animationxpress.com’s Zeenia Boatwala about the idea behind Shambu the Man Eater, Kushal Ruia, Studio Head, ACK, shares, “We started working on Shambu and the Man-eater (SATME) way back in summer of 2011 as a small in-house production that would keep us busy in-between projects.
However when we decided to take Sons of Ram to theatres, I saw this as a great opportunity to showcase Shambu as short film in front of SoR and we pushed the production into high gear.”
The visual style is very graphic, the short film is blended with hand-painted Backgrounds with 2D Flash Animation. “I wanted the visual style to reflect the whimsical nature of the concept. SATME is inspired by the much loved character from Tinkle. We took up researched how to simplify this iconic design for animation and make it work in all dimensions without sacrificing the integrity of the original designs.” adds, Kushal.
SATME boasts of a brand new character, the Man-eater which is very different from any character in the Tinkle universe. He is sinister yet someone you can sympathize with. He is relentless and very fixated on having Sahmbu for a meal. His this perseverance leads him to all kinds of innovative ideas of capturing Shambu. However, Shambu’s passion for survival is also unmatched!
According to Kushal, the challenge in developing SATME was to condense the huge world of Shambu into a 2 -character driven concept.
“I wanted to keep the concept short and simple. I believe that the deceptive simplicity of the art and of course our newest character, the Man-eater will enthrall the audiences.”
Kushal strongly suggests that people should not be late reaching the theatres when going to see Sons of Ram, as this additional treat is simply not be missed!
“Debuting the amazing Shambu in this two character comedy short has been a pure joy! Hopefully the audiences will enjoy the humor, the gorgeous art and of course the cat & mouse adventures of these two characters. The chase has just begun” Kushal, concludes.
You can find exclusive clips, art and news from Sons of Ram and Shambu and the Man-Eater at