The animation industry has seen a tremendous growth in the last six years in India, thanks to the state of the art technology that has been introduced in this field. According to an industry forecast by Anderson Consulting, the animation industry is poised to touch more than US$1.5 billion by 2009. ?However, despite all this growth, animation is still considered for children in India,? says VK Gupta, senior pipeline technical director, Big Animation and technical director of Oscar-winning Golden Compass & Beverly Hills.

Having been a part of the animation industry in India and in the west, he finds them both to be two separate forms. ?If you remove music from an Indian movie, it becomes a Hollywood product. Also, the number of elements concentrated on is different in both the industries,? adds Gupta. He was in the capital to participate in an animation and VFX film festival organised by MAAC (Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics). The movie Hanuman has seen tremendous success, appealing to the masses and not just to kids in India. Gupta calls this affinity towards mythological stories and concepts an effort to remove stubborn mindsets.

?VFX had also begun with mythology. It will take time for the mindset of the people to change,? said Gupta. ?There is lack of original content and storytelling in India, which Hollywood has scored over us,? says Amit Sharma of Rhythm & Hues, another studio which has worked for movies like Night In The Museum, Happy Feet, Superman Returns and Chronicles of Narnia.

The animation and Visual FX segment was pegged at Rs13 billion in 2007, growing by 24% over 2006. Going by the speed at which the industry is expanding, India will need 25,000 more professionals by the close of next year. The industry currently has only a little over 10,000 professionals working in this techno-creative field.

Another noticeable difference between Indian and Hollywood animation is that people here look at this industry as an employment provider. ?In the West, however, people work on project basis, giving them more exposure to different styles of working and an opportunity to grow. This also helps the industry to develop rapidly,? says Gupta.

However, he also emphasises on the fact that the Indian scenario is set to change and will change significantly in the next few years.