INTERVIEW : ASHISH KULKARNI

‘We must take Indian animation overseas’

Sagorika Dasgupta
Posted: Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009 at 0309 hrs IST
Updated: Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009 at 0309 hrs IST

Font Size

Feedback

Discuss

‘People still prefer piracy to paying for world ci...

: After becoming the highest rated show on a kids channel, India’s first 3D animation series, Little Krishna, may have set the ball rolling for local content. The 13-episode mythological show will soon set sail for international shores. Ashish Kulkarni, CEO, BIG Animation, tells Sagorika Dasgupta about the importance of marketing animation content overseas and the three-year-old company’s future plans. Excerpts:

After domestic success, do you plan to take Little Krishna overseas?

Yes, we are on the verge of closing in on several distribution avenues for Little Krishna as far as broadcasting and the DVD is concerned. The DVDs will soon be launched across the globe and we are planning to release the DVDs in India during Diwali. We showcased Little Krishna at MIPCOM, and the content generated a good response. Around 50-60 countries approached us to acquire the broadcast rights for the series. That is when we realised the importance of having an international distributor with us on board.

What all projects are you working on?

We are working a TV series based on a pre-school subject and are in the process of designing the characters for the show. We will soon be lining up two more feature films for release and another TV series. We are in the process of releasing an animated feature film called Hey Krishna, which is based on the life of Lord Krishna. While the TV series based on Krishna was in 3D animation, the feature film will be in 2D.

Why did you choose to make the feature film in 2D animation?

The budget and the cost of production for a 3D film is much higher than that of 2D. We had to be very calcultive in terms of costs when we made the TV series. While conceptualising the film we also kept in mind that the reach of the film would not just be restricted to the Hindi-speaking markets. We plan to dub the film and have subtitles to tap the regional as well as the international audience. We also had to make sure that the TV series should have a different look from the feature film.

How important is it to explore foreign markets?

It’s very important to exploit Indian animation content overseas. It does not make sense to restrict properties to Indian territories since content creation is very expensive. In India there is a mental block about animation being positioned as kid’s entertainment. Most Indian animation companies are working...

Post Comments

Comments: (Limit 3,000 characters)

Name		Message
Email ID
Subject

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.