Indian writer wins Columbine Award for screenplay

Delhi based screen-play writer Deepak Arora recently won the Columbine Award at the Moondance International Film Festival for his work on the animated feature ‘Queen of the Jungle’ in the category of Best Feature Screenplay for Kids.

Deepak shared his winning experience with Animation Xpress.com “This award is encouraging and it has opened a new door for me”, said Deepak. “I always knew that I have the potential of writing but I have been concentrating more on the production aspect of film making”, he added.

“Queen of the Jungle is a story of a young American boy named Ron who comes to the Jungles of India wishing to see a Tiger. It seems as if he is destined to return disappointed until fate intervenes. A freak stampede created by Kalia-the poacher, lands him up inside the jungle, lost and alone, with nowhere to go. The tigress Sita’s cubs Raju & Ramu have just been abducted by Kalia”, narrated Deepak.”And here begins an adventure, where Ron meets Sita, who becomes his protector, while Ron becomes her companion in her search for the cubs” he added.

A New Delhi based filmmaker and proprietor of Panvision, which is largely involved into corporate and documentary films, is now planning to write 2-3 more animation screenplays including a sequel to ‘Queen of the Jungle’.

The Moondance International Film Festival, popularly known as the ‘American Cannes’, is one of the venues for the exhibition and promotion of feature and short films in the US, and one of the leading indie film festivals in the world.

“The idea for this screenplay was in some way inspired from my own experiences. During my trips to various wildlife sanctuaries in India, I was disappointed not to have a tiger sighting”, Said Deepak.

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