After its successful three season run on Amazon Prime Video, animated series, Kalari Kids, from the house of Green Gold Animation (makers of Chhota Bheem), has been taken up by POGO which premiered on 15 April.
Available in Tamil, Hindi and English, Kalari Kids combines the old-world charm and warmth of India with new-age sassiness and fun! The animation style is unique and has a raw, tribal feeling which is something new for the kids to experience.
Exclaims Green Gold Animation founder and CEO Rajiv Chilaka, “We are very excited. We have a long standing relationship with POGO and it is a pleasure to accompany them on another adventure with Kalari Kids. The shows have been created with power packed animation and a wonderful storyline.”
Set in the enchanted jungle of Kalaripuram which is full of magic and secrets, thrilling stunts and action, the series revolves around the adventures of Kalari Kids after having learnt the ancient martial art form-Kalaripayattu from Kerala that has three variants – Arappa Kay, Pilla Thangi, and Vatta Thiripp. This martial art form is expected to build strength and character in children.
Talking about why did Green Gold Animation specifically focus on a martial art form for a kids show, Chilaka revealed, “During the ideation stage, we were exploring various topics, especially in ancient art. That’s when we chanced upon Kalaripayattu. Being one of the oldest martial-art form to exist in the world, we thought it would be a delight to showcase this to our younger audience and weave an adventure around it. We also feel that this is our way of contributing to the revival of this art form which has existed since ages and is slowly been taken over by modernisation. It deserves a bigger platform and thus our endeavour.”
The synopsis of the story goes like:
Beenu, Meena, Shyam, Unni and Ami who are often pitted against Team Guru Veta’s Raaka, Dhaana, Mani, Lekha, Langot and Monster. While Guru Palan believes in bringing the best out of his students with light hearted methods, valuing their age and innocence, Guru Veta believes in a rigid military form of training. After their training sessions in Kalaripayattu are over, the kids go back to their regular life and enjoy playing pranks on each other.
Running all the complete three seasons on POGO, Kalari Kids attempts to draw more audience through its visual direction which is inspired by and brings to life the beauty of traditional Indian paintings. The dynamic paneling and high-contrast style promise an exciting and one-of-a-kind experience for young fans. The Kalari theme song too, is fun-filled and infuses Indian classical music with modern catchy tunes.
The format of the show is 60 X 11’ 2D HD episodes and is created using Toon Boom Storyboard Pro for the storyboard and Adobe Flash for the animation.
What also attracts our attention about this acquisition is that, after its successful stint with the leading OTT platform, the animated series is now available on linear television that anticipates to reach out to a wider audience.
Speaking about the television premiere of Kalari Kids on POGO, Turner India managing director Siddharth Jain comments, “We constantly aim to offer kid friendly content to create a deeper connect with our audience, through homegrown and localised shows that play a critical role in POGO’s programming strategy. We are certain that Kalari Kids will reach out to and strengthen our engagement with our little fans.”
“As of today, the reach of linear TV is much higher than OTT platforms. This show premiered on OTT platform and was loved by the kids and with POGO, Kalari Kids will have a much wider and bigger audience. We feel both TV and OTT will continue to grow and our job is to give our children nice and interesting content,” adds Chilaka on the similar line.
Animation in India is gradually becoming ‘mainstream’ from the periphery with amazing work being made. The OTT platforms too are observed to have been inclined towards relatable and high quality animated content. Though the OTT allure is real and beneficial, linear television channels too are leaving no stone unturned to up their game, made more pertinent by this acquisition.
As ardent animation admirers, we hope all this turns out to be greater and better for the Indian animation industry!
