Leading Content House, Production, Post Production and Distribution major – Shemaroo Entertainment has made a big bang entry into the Indian Animation IP business.
The company has entered into a co-production deal with Hyderabad based Sun Animatics for the marketing, distribution and various business deals for �Ghatothkach – The Master of Magic’ which it shall be theatrically releasing later this year.
Speaking to AnimationXpress.com, Shemaroo VP for Animation, Smita Maroo shared, “We have been looking at the Indian Animation space for a while and we believe that a product like Ghatothkach which brings out the child in the viewer is the perfect way to make headway in this space. All the characters in the movie are extremely adorable and it has a very fascinating story. Itâ€?s got magic, action, romance, comedy, drama, fantasy, complete with songs as well. It is Animation meets Bollywood at its best”
Co-Produced by Sun Animatics, and directed by the legendary Singeetham Srinivasan Rao, 80% of Ghatothkach production is complete. The Animation direction is by Orwell Mina.
Starting with the theatrical release later this year, Shemaroo is planning a multi platform release for Ghatothkach and is also looking at the Licensing and Merchandising space in a big way.
“We have planned innovative events and promotions for extending and building the Ghatothkach property into a major brand” shared Smita Maroo.
“A lot of multi nationals as well as locally strong brands across a wide range of products have evinced interest and we are actively engaging with them to look at Licensing & Merchandising as well as Media Marketing tie ups” she added.
“The intention is to take the entire animation ecosystem to the next level with good interesting story telling which is made especially for the Indian consumer . Parallely Ghatothkach will also touch the International audiences and connect them to our rich heritage” Smita concluded.
2007 will witness the release of at least 4 Indian animated features and most of these products are expected to perform well in the market.
Interesting times ahead!