~ First time ever; blockbuster Bollywood franchise Krrish to air animated movies on Cartoon Network ~
In the first of its kind endeavour, a popular Bollywood movie is now being leveraged onto a television entertainment channel via animated spin-off movies. Cartoon Network, Film Kraft Productions and Toonz Animation have partnered to create four animated movie sequels based on the Bollywood mega movie – Krrish.
These movie sequels follow the childhood adventures of Krishna (from the movie Krrish) who discovers that he can help people and save the world with the special powers bestowed upon him by Jadoo (from the movie Koi Mil Gaya). But in order to protect his identity and loved ones from the wrath of his enemies, he must don the mask of superhero Krrish! A series of four movies of 66 minutes each will be created between 2013 and 2014, the first of which, titled Kid Krrish, will air on Cartoon Network on July 14, 2013.
Siddharth Jain, Managing Director, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. said, “At Turner, our aim has always been to push the boundaries and deliver innovative and entertaining content across all our channels. Cartoon Network, the ultimate destination for fun and animation, will now be home to Bollywood’s biggest superhero in a whole new animated avatar. The Krrish franchise has been very well received by kids across the country and we are certain that they will be enthralled and excited to watch this adaptation of their superhero on Cartoon Network!”
Rakesh Roshan, Director, Film Kraft Productions (India) Pvt. Ltd. said, “I have always pushed the limits by making different kinds of entertainment films and have always planned new strategies to promote them. Since Krrish 3 will be ready for release this Diwali, I wanted to revive the memory of Krrish with children and the newer generation who may have not seen Koi Mil Gaya or Krrish. I am happy to have collaborated with Turner, the oldest and most popular children’s channel in Asia and Toonz Animation, who are the best in creating animated content in Asia, to make this first of its kind animated film series, where a live action film is adapted to make animation series for television.”
“The animatedKrrish franchise are fun films that are guaranteed to be a visual treat with mass appeal. It is not every day that 11 year olds get to be super heroes! We are thrilled about partnering with the legendary Rakesh Roshan and Cartoon Network. This is a huge milestone as far as Toonz Animation is concerned,” said P Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation India Pvt. Ltd.
Speaking at the Launch of Kid Krrish, P Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Animation India Pvt. Ltd, expresses,“When we were evaluating concepts for making an animation film for the Indian audience, we were sure that we wanted something unique and something that India would call its own and Krrish is India’s very own iconic superhero with a huge fan following.We approached Rakeshji with the kid krrish animation concepts about an 11 year old superhero character and he was extremely encouraging and happy to sign a pact with us and cartoon network. Krrish is already an established brand in India today with the series of live action block buster films. I’m very definite that these four kid krrish films that we are producing would be a trend setter.
At the announcement about Kid Krrish, Expressing happiness on Kid Krrish Animation Movies, Siddharth Jain, Managing Director, South Asia, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd also shares his views, “It’s a historic moment of Kid Krrish launch! Turner believes that there is nothing bigger than local programming which works for local audiences! Krrish as a character is iconic in nature and very friendly within kids and the credit goes to Rakesh Roshan for creating krrish as a theatrical product. Toonz saw the future of the product of adapting it to television and making a character out of it which kids would relate too!