Is it end of road for animation in India?
Animation in India was touted as a high-growth industry, with Nasscom once projecting revenues of $1.16 billion by 2012. Last year, 2009, was supposed to see a flurry of activity with the release of over 15 animation films which were started in 2005-06 after the success of Hanuman.
The industry is shaken, with not a single film making it to theatre screens in 2009.
In a recent report, Nasscom has cut back on its projection of the animation industry to $1 billion by 2012. Toonpur Ka Superhero, a film starring Kajol and Ajay Devgn in live action, with a mix of animated characters, was released in 2009. All pure animation films announced for release in 2009 have been shelved, put on hold or deferred for release.
Soundarya Rajnikant’s Sultan, Govind Nihalani’s Kamlu, three films on the Ramayana and many others were slated for release in 2009. While Sultan has been re-announced for release in April this year, there is no information on the others.
he animation industry was already in deep trouble, having pinned high hopes on Yashraj’s Roadside Romeo that released in October 2008. However, it got a setback as the film flopped despite the Yashraj clout. Shaken by the Romeo debacle, multiplexes and film distributors are reluctant to screen animation films.
Film producers who had already ventured into it are desperately trying other ways to recover their investments. The film Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang, which released a week ahead of Roadside Romeo, is yet to recover the Rs 4 crore it spent to make the film. “Animation films do not earn from the theatres, but from licensing and merchandising. We have sold these rights, but we are nowhere near recovering our money. We’ll be lucky if we get it in three-four years,” said RD Mallik, CEO of Elecom Fiesta Entertainment, the company that produced the film.
Rahul Bakshi, CEO of Phoebus Media, one of the handful producers to release an animation film, said: “The industry is definitely shaken and we need to rethink our way ahead. Unlike mature markets abroad, where animation is seen by everyone, Indians still have the animation-is-for-kids mindset, which is why we land up in a vicious circle. We do not get audience because theatres do not give us a prime slot and theatres do not give us prime slots because we do not get the audience. We are in the same position that Marathi films were in about a year ago. One film worked well and now all theatres want a share of that pie. We need one film with a perfect mix of great story telling and great animation.”
The good news is that Reliance ADAG’s maiden animation product Little Krishna is selling worldwide and animation entertainment channels like Nick, Cartoon Network and Disney have started buying Indian-produced content. International television content distributor Evergreen Entertainment has bought Little Krishna for global distribution, while Viacom Media’s animation entertainment channel Nick acquired it for the south Asian territory.
Disney and Cartoon Network are both aggressively talking to Indian content owners to buy local content. Cartoon Network had launched a Snaptoons project, calling for ideas from animation content developers. Of the final 10 ideas selected, five were Indian.
Monica Tata, vice-president and deputy general manager, Entertainment Networks, south Asia, Turner International India, said, “We see a lot of talent in India, which makes it an important market for us. We selected more ideas from India than other successful markets like Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand. India is an ‘incubator for ideas’ for us and we are looking at getting some good ideas from the country.”
source infotech.indiatimes.com
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