Home made animation films have done well on television channels, but box office success has been elusive so far. It is a code that even Walt Disney has not been able to crack in India. But now Anil Ambani?s Reliance Animation is pinning its hopes on Lord Krishna to break the jinx with the release of ?Krishna aur Kans? on August 3.

?Krishna aur Kans is India?s first animated 3D stereoscopic feature film and will be released with the highest number of prints for any Indian animation film. It will also be released worldwide with the global version of the film titled ?Hey Krishna?,? Ashish SK, CEO, Reliance Animation and executive producer of Krishna aur Kans, said.

According to Ashish, animation film has been predominantly positioned as kids genre in India, but they hope to break this barrier and make animation work as a medium for family entertainment. Ashish hopes that just as the real breakthrough for Hollywood came through the film ?Lion King?, his film will be a breakthrough for the Indian animation film industry.

Green Gold Animations film ?Chotta Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan? met with reasonable success recently while Disney?s ?Arjun: The Warrior Prince? did not hit the target. Reliance Animation will like to have a blockbuster whether the Indian audience will oblige and divine intervention help will be known soon.

Though Ashish did not disclose the budget, he said ?this is the most expensive animation movie made in the country?. The film will be released across 500 plus theatres in the country, which is a kind of release unheard of in the animation feature film market. Directed by Vikram Vetturi, the film boasts of a voice cast of Om Puri, Juhi Chawla, Manoj Bajpai, Anupam Kher, AK Hangal, Mukesh Khanna, Sachin, Supria Pilgaonkar and Prachi Save. Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Ghoshal and Babul Suprio will be singing to Shantanu Moitra?s tunes and Swanand Kirkire?s lyrics with flautist Rakesh Chaurasia playing Krishna?s flute.

Krishna aur Kans has a window of few weeks before Salman Khan?s Ek Tha Tiger film hits cinema halls. Finding theatrical screen space is the key to the whole process and can make a significant impact on how animation films fare and thereby impact domestic content, believes Ashish. Animation films struggle to find slots amidst regular films on the theatre screens.

With tight marketing budget, Ashish is taking a different route to promote the film. Apart from using social media, Ashish has been targeting audience directly by goading schools, talking to corporate houses, and coaxing devotees to watch the movie. Direct activities have also been planned across 40 cities by event companies during Janmasthami.

Ashish is also talking to state governments for entertainment tax exemption for the film as it promoted Indian culture and heritage.