The year 2012 witnessed the release of India’s first stereoscopic 3D animated feature film called ‘Delhi Safari’, which was touted to be the best animated feature out of India, before last year’s release ‘Chaar Sahibzaade’ took over the mantle purely on merit, which is a good sign for the Indian animation industry.
According to a new development that we have come to learn of, the Pune-based Krayon Pictures, which had co-produced ‘Delhi Safari’ along with People Tree Films, has found a new partner in China’s Heshan Media to re-create the magic of the first installment with a sequel that is tentatively titled ‘Bejing Safari’.
The earlier bilingual outing was helmed by popular Bollywood film-maker Nikhil Advani, the Hindi version of which, featured voices of popular Bollywood actors like Govinda, Akshay Khanna, Urmila Matondkar, Prem Chopra, Boman Irani and Sweenie and It also boasted of 3-4 songs for which the music had been composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.
The film also had several international releases in France, USA, South Korea, China and Russia (represented by Fantastic Films Internationally). The English version of the film had the stellar voice cast of Vanessa Williams (Desperate Housewives), Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Jane Lynch (Glee) and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) among others like Cary Elwes and Jason Alexander.
For the sequel that is going to go on floors in October this year, Tab Murphy – Oscar nominee for Gorillas in the Mist – will be scripting the film and Daniel St Pierre, who has credits on The Lion King and Aladdin, will direct.
The English-language film is being produced under the India-China co-production agreement and will therefore get domestic status in both countries. Investors are from India and China and the budget is currently fixed at $20 million.
Delhi Safari told the story of a group of animals who are on an adventurous mission to preserve their habitat as it comes under threat from developers. It was endorsed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) as the film follows the theme of rights for animals and forest conservation.
