The integration of the craft of animation into pop culture across live-action movies, music videos and premium originals has been on an upward trajectory during the pandemic. The changing visual language has come into sharper focus with Indian as well as international stars increasingly resorting to this medium.
Recently internet influencer Ajey Nagar whose YouTube channel Carryminati has over 30 million subscribers and a cumulative 2.3 billion views released his signature take on The Land of Bigg Boss. This time Nagar’s content which has catapulted to the number one position on the trending section in India included a decent amount of animation.
The rather desi, smutty and crude style of commentary that Nagar is popularly known for has been a hit amongst the masses and for a content creator like him to employ this form has certainly given an impetus to the growing trend of animation.
Before him, the pandemic witnessed a big-budget family entertainer movie like Coolie Number 1 making use of copious amounts of animation in the opening credit scene to bring nuance to the storytelling.
In the recent past, T-series in collaboration with Retrophiles had also come up with an unprecedented dance video Nachunga Aise using motion capture technology. The video which was shot in a lockdown friendly manner with the help of virtual production featured Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan.
The pandemic also saw pop star Dua Lipa launch her music video, Hallucinate which is a retro-fusion animated trip crafted for the single. Inspired by the disco aesthetic of Studio 54 in the ‘70s and cartoons from multiple iconic eras, the video is an animation spectacle.
Another Youtube entertainer Bhuvan Bam whose channel BB ki Vines enjoys massive popularity and fanfare across the country had recently flirted with the medium to enhance his musical single, Heer Ranjha.
Heer Ranjha, at the time of release had co-incidentally hit the number one mark on trending, accumulating over 10 million views. The Delhi-based YouTuber had also attributed his inclination towards animation to ‘the feeling of helplessness and the context of being stuck at home which led to the creation of Heer-Ranjha’.
In conjunction with DIVINE’s own life, MERA BHAI became another animated musical single released during the pandemic that was a palatable original featuring the internal struggles one faces on their path to success.
We at AnimationXpress are elated to see the rise of animated content being embraced by more and more mainstream audiences. Animation Ahoy!
