For all of us comic book aficionados and pop culture watchers at large, the dream of a comic con (short for convention) seemed like just that... a dream.. but since this year India has its very own Comic con.. the 1st annual comic con happened in Delhi in feb and now a travelling version comes to our very own Mumbai!!! COMIC CON EXPRESS, MUMBAI!!!
....And we are going to be there!!!
It has been a matter of great excitement (and not to mention last minute preparations amid running projects) at the lil studio!! There is sooo much to say and do!!!
For starters and you are hearing of it first here, There is the Tripura graphic novel and DVD!!!!! Yes! It is happening! Both are currently looking at a January 2012 release.
We will be sharing a preview of selected pages of the graphic novel at the comic con!! + a galary of works relating to animation, visual development and pre-production, character design and illustration!!
And 'Raju & I' DVD will be on sale too!!
Oh did I mention... 22nd and 23rd Oct, World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, Stall 25C!!
A still from a pre-production promotional trailer animated by Animagic
So it is has happened..
Tripura was finally premiered with no fanfare on CN on sunday at 12 pm and then re-screened at 6 pm..off sync as well! sorry for all the hardwork put in by Eli, Aldrick n co to perfect the track! :(
Thanks to everybody that watched it and gave your much valued appreciation. From all your feedback, We can modestly say, we have succeeded in pushing the quality of Indian Television animation... towards sophisticated characterization and mature storytelling or maybe just telling mature stories! Glory to Shiva!!!
Major peeve: the films last shot of Mohin in the distance screaming Dharma!Dharma! faded to black and immediately without even pausing for a fullstop, let alone any credit roll, the next program started!! It was simply unbelievable, if not for the credits on that prog, people thought the film was still not over! perhaps that was the idea..not to lose viewers in transit from one show to the next! And this happened both times! In the evening the film was stuck to Tom n Jerry. While ordinarily I would have been honored with being on the same platform as those legends.. the overlap was just hideous.. Is the viewer a robot whose hypnotic trance must not break ??!! Sheers insecurity which betrays the low confidence in your product.
Most regrettable is that none of the artists, from Animagic or Inspidea, or the voice talents, or musicians, technicians got any credit.. very sad.
This just presumes that people don't care for their work or .. that they just work for money and are not interested in their association with a project.. Certainly the avoidance of their credit seems like they are all nothing but a inconvenience for the network.. why! nobody is interested in who made the film, right!? who stands for the credit roll at the end of a film in theaters?
The corporate honchos got themselves up in the beginning of the film..but they green-lit it.. that is more important than actually making it..(?!!) mercifully the writing/directing credits were included upfront!
Well everyone tells me thats life/corporate behavior/business/show business etc etc.. I dont agree with it.
This attitude hurts the many people who put in their sincere efforts to make a special project, working far beyond convenience and monetary benefits! Now I am not going to break any glass partitions in corporate offices, but unless there is respect for the artists there is never going to be a rise out of mediocrity for this industry or this country.
I would like to take this unfortunate moment to thank all the folks involved in the film right from inception, research, development, thru design, production and sound work..
So a special mention of Harshad Marathe, Vajra Pancharia, Romel, Suraj Pandit for their work in the initial research and development.
Sachin Kondhalkar, Vinod Sawant, Prajakta Sansare, Jude pires, Hrishikesh Deshpande, Shaunak Samvatsar, Laxman Khandekar for thier efforts during the design and entire pre-production. Ably supported by Anil Salvi and Shakuntala Agre, without them we couldnt have created anything in peace.
Artists at Inspidea for all that they translated onto screen. We appreciate their efforts, this production was not their average TV assignment.
Eliza n Greta Lewis, Atul and Alric of Oringsham for their work n understanding in creating the voice tracks. All the talented actors who put in their best for the characters personalities.
+ all the musicans and technicians who I have not had the pleasure of knowing personally but have added to the film. Also Kushal Ruia who had to guide the film thru post production.. a job I envy him for. You tried your best. Of this I am sure.
here are two trailers I found on youtube:
The 15 sec is the promotion done by CN.. and the longer one seems to be ACK's offering on the www. The promo just about made it to the screens in the last week and the trailer went online.... 3 days before release!!
Now it can be finally told!! (and thanks to my schedule, this is not the first place where you heard it..)
The fruit of the last year's labour .. the first animated feature from Animagic!!!
TRIPURA- The three cities of Maya.
A co-production with ACK Media, the company that owns the most popular comics from India, Amar Chitra Katha (yes, for entire generations of Indians, their source to their roots), the film is a direct to TV special to be broadcast on Cartoon Network later this year!!
The Amar Chitra Katha based on this legend of Shiva was one of my favourite comics.. illustrated by the great Ram Waeerkar, one of my earliest gurus. In a way this is my guru dakshina, not just to him but to the other greats who illustrated ACKs through three decades; by way of making something that has stemmed from them but goes further in all directions.. into the roots of the original myth, in the high drama of narrative, in the imagination and dynamics of animation!!
