The first Sanskrit animated film, Punyakoti will be available on a global digital platform soon, as director Ravi Shankar revealed to Animation Xpress and on social media.
“The trailer has received close to half a million views. The interest in Punyakoti has grown organically. Sanskrit is getting a lot of respect and interest outside India as well. Now an international digital platform has shown interest in taking the movie to the world. It is a big boost for Indian animation. It’s still under QC. We’ll keep you posted once it’s finalised,” said he.
This news comes after the film got continuously deferred since April 2019, and got its first exclusive screening for the crowd-funders in October 2019.
Based on an episode from The Mahabharata, which is also prevalent as a folk-song in South India, Punyakoti tells the story of a truth-speaking cow. The plot is an imaginary take on the circumstances that led to the encounter between the cow and a tiger in a village that is facing an impending drought.
Punyakoti also won three awards at Animation Xpress’ ANN Awards in August 2019, for ‘Best Animation Digital Film’, ‘Best Voice Over Artist’ (Revathy) and ‘Best Screenplay’.
The script of Punyakoti is taken from a children’s picture book by the same name, written by Shankar himself, and follows a five act structure being modelled along the lines of any international quality production in terms of creative and structural finesse.
The 80-90 minutes animated film has a unique style that’s inspired by Indian folk-art with a mix of traditional and digital animation techniques with more emphasis on the storytelling than on the technical prowess. The team had invested a lot of time and dedication to bring out a style that draws upon the Indian temple art and puppetry- the forms and style which follows the proportion and aesthetics of Indian folk-art and sculpture.
Now it’s just a matter of time for this awaited film to reach the global audience.
