obsessed
with morals”
Born out of restlesness, creativity is never alone. Rather, eccentricity never lets it be. Add to that the responsibilities of a CEO and you have Kireet Khurana.
‘Yours truly’ deserves a pat on the back for coaxing the reticent Khurana to speak at length on the one thing he loves to do in life – Animation.
Kireet, there are quite a few questions, but first throw some light on the latest projects that your studio is working on?
There is a regular flow of animation work for ad films that we do, currently we are working on the animation for a new Kellog Chocos commercial. Also I am particulary excited about the new animated sequences we have developed for Set MAX. The response was so good that the channel has commisioned us to come up with many more sequences. Besides that, there is a Sanjay Dutt starrer DOST for which we are doing the SFX, in fact, I leave day after for Romania to supervise a shoot, which is why you see so much of chaos around here. On the animation front we are working on the pre production of a series called Trikaya.
Tell us more about the Set Max Tiger sequences?
The Set Max animated tiger (Deewana) sequences during the world cup were a value add to the channel’s cricket programming mix. Imagine Virender Sehwag hitting a boundary and add to that the thrill of watching the tiger whose bat suddenly rotates as a fan so fast that it begins burning, or the bhangra dance that he does upon the completion of a ton. We have developed around 12 new sequences for the upcoming ICC trophy to be played in England.
What are these sequences about?
I would like to not elaborate much on them since the channel is involved, but all the new sequences are more family and fun oriented.
What is the theme for your animation series Trikaya? Where will it be shown?
Trikaya is all about health and viruses, there are 3 friends who together form the Trikaya, they pulverise viruses personified as monsters with their laser guns and have a great time together. The pre production is on for the series and there are talks going on with concerned parties to take things further. But I will not throw in famous names just to leverage a little publicity. I have full conviction that Trikaya is going to do well when it happens.
Being the son of the prolific Bhimsain, you have been exposed to animation since childhood, there are a lot of firsts in Indian animation that your father and you have to your credit. You must speak about them. Let’s take a trip down memory lane?
My earliest memories range back to 1971 when I was five. This was when my father’s company became the first private Indian studio to recieve an international award. We won the Silver Hugo at the Chicago Festival for a short film entitled ‘The Climb’. That was the beginning of Climb Media. 2nz is a the ad films making division of Climb Media.
This was followed by a national award in 1974 for ‘Ek Titlee Anek Titlee’ an animated short film on national unity. Today our national awards tally has gone upto 16.
How does it feel to recieve an award from the President of the country?
It is a great honour.
Please tell us more about Ek Anek… I believe that was a landmark…
Yes (Smiles) Ek Anek has been one of the most widely telecasted animated short films in the history of Indian animation.
The song – Ek chidiya, anek chidiya even today is remembered by many. Those times were different we had only one TV channel, Doordarshan.
Even though the message of National integration was common to most films being made during that era, the simplicity of the theme and the medium of animation made this film stand out apart.
Ek Anek took almost a year to complete and was done using cel animation. We also won an award in a Japanese film festival for ek anek, besides being in competition for the leading Zagreb Film Festiva. Incidentally, that’s another first.
Tell us about the films that you got awards for?
There was Locked which was a film on child labour, on the hazards faced by children working in the Lock making industry. After that there was Trade which was on Child prostitution. Then there was ‘O’ which was followed by Mahagiri. Mahagiri is the story of a gentle elephant. It is based on a folktale from Kerala. I was managing this alongside my Honors at Sheridan.
Tell us about Sheridan. I am sure it must have been awesome?
I had the previlige of learning from a master like the 85 yr old Zack Shwartz who had worked on Disney classics alongside the great Walt Disney himself . I also greatly benefitted by learning from other members of the faculty like Oscar winning directors Kaj Pindal and Derek Lamb.
Most of India’s animation studios today are sweatshops. Arent you interested in the business potential that outsourced jobs hold?
Not at all. Our mission statement will answer your question. It reads thus:-
‘To create and build popular, endearing, indigenous animated characters and content as brands which empower children and adults alike’ .
What brands and animated content have you created?
We were the first to develop an animated series in India it was titled Lok Gatha. Way back in 1992 we were commisioned by CFSI (Childrens film society of India) ‘ to develop an animated series for them. We were paid a sizeable amount for the series (13 episodes, 22 minutes each) and were co producers along with CFSI. Lok Gatha was planned to be aired on Doordarshan and we had already booked slots and recieved commitments from sponsors for commercial time, unfortunately things took an ugly turn and the series never went on air.
What happened?
We were commisioned by CFSI for Lok Gatha when it was headed by Shabana Azmi. Later on when she stepped down and Jaya Bachchan took over, she shelved the project. We filed a case for defamation and we won. We recovered our monies but the series never went on air. Thankfully our subsequent ventures Vartamaan and Chota Birbal were both succesfully aired.
It is very inspiring to hear about Indian owned IP in animation please elaborate on Vartamaan and Chotta Birbal?
We made Vartamaan in 1996 and it was telecast and re-telecast succesfully many times on DD. It was a 26 episode series (15 minutes each),animated by combining cell animation and 3D techniques. The story was about a land called Vartamaan which was ruled by Purush(man). His allies were the virtues personified and the enemy was Sankat(trouble) the vices were Sankat’s allies.
Chotta Birbal of course as you know was made for Cartoon Network and it did well. The concept, creatives, direction and production was all done by us. We had some differences with our partners though and have passed over the control of the brand to them. It feels very bad to part with something you have worked hard on.
Talking about brands we were the first Indian studio to license thier animated character. We licensed Navneet publications for notebooks and Egmont for story books, comic books and wipe and clean books.
Except for Chota Birbal all of the content that you have spoken about seems to be preachy and message oriented. Do you think this will fit in with today’s Cartoon Network watching generation?
Are you talking about Bandraites like you and me or Indian kids in general. When you speak about messages and being preachy let us first consider the fact that we are a nation obsessed with morals. Right from Panchtantra to Hitopdesha to Jataka tales there is always a message. I dont see anything wrong in that. It is the treatment which has to find favour with today’s kids. And even Chota Birbal which was telecast on Cartoon Network had its messages, though subtly passed on.
Lets talk about the industry in general now. Where do you think is India’s animation industry headed?
I foresee 2 scenarios. The brighter and the more positive one which I see is that within the next 3 years, there will be creation of a succesful IP that shall inspire motivate and drive the industry towards IP creation. Besides I am also optimistic on the arrival of so many new kids channels just waiting to be launched. I see that as an opportunity.
The other scenario could be failure of a few attempts at IP creation which would lead to studios shying away from the domain completely.
The next 3 years are going to be critical for Indian animation.