Remembering Dad

 People who know me well are aware that I often end up bringing  people I love into my work as characters. This is true of both animation films and especially book illustrations.Sometimes these characters are full fledged roles like our friends Arvind & Kusum in The Grand Chapati Contest or Sumant Rao as 'Nature Uncle' in the recently released 'Ishaan's Treasures' if they fit the bill. They are most often guest appearances and walk by cameos. This has been so since the earliest projects.. so colleagues, friends, my own humble self and of course the family! show up in my work. 

This is not a deliberate exercise, it happens when it does and gives me great joy when doing it. It also makes the scene more real for me, the pose and posture of the character no longer needs to be imagined, but just 'seen' or merely remembered to be drawn and and is obviously more authentic... In the earlier mentioned  'Ishaan's Treasures', my late father-in-law, Tabla maestro Pt. Sudhir Sansare made an unexpected appearance on the beach coz it felt like he had gone for a stroll there... Instead of some random character it became him. I have only met him a couple of times and he passed away long before I married his daughter :)

Yesterday many people celebrated 'Father's Day' by remembering and paying tribute and notes of love to their dads... Jyotika, my sister was inspired to create an entire song which was filled with genuine feeling. The little video with pictures of her and papa was indeed a touching tribute and made one remember him intensely. 

Papa, Shri PremKumar Sharma passed on in 2013. 

Often, even as late as last week, I feel like he is back home... tinkering away with something, mostly a tune and calling my sister cute made up names.. 

Especially in my baby steps into the world of classical music, I wish he was around even more... As a parent he didn't force me to learn music tho he tried and gave up when he found his child more interested in "kaagaz kaale karna" (literally: blackening paper ie drawing)... (Its not that I wasn't interested in music, drawing and comics offered a far greater pull to my imagination.. but its a whole different story for another time)

As I was seeing her song I suddenly remembered all the times He has popped up in my illustration work, whether from the first 'role' I gave him as Nandbaba (5) in The Karadi Tales KRISHNA books from 2000, or the many cameos of him walking around (usually with Jyo in his arms) in the pages (worlds) of   1] Miss Moochie's 'FRANK GOES TO THE MARKET' 2017,  2] RAMU AT THE FAIR' (2) 2019, 3] The Mangrove Foundation's ISHAAN'S TREASURES 2021, 4] Complan CRICKET BOOK 1999, 6] Duckbill's THE GRAND CHAPATI CONTEST 

I suppose your loved ones live and breathe through you... whether in your work or in your memories, they are always alive. Today someone remarked on seeing Jyotika's video that I resemble my dad... as the years pass this is probably a son's legacy... to look into his father's eyes when he sees even himself.

Happy Birthday Dilip Saab!

The 11th of December was the Legendary Thespian's 'happy' birthday!! Just thought of these really old sketches of him done for an animation piece sometime in 2000.. almost 13 years ago! With the sudden realisation of the passage of time, also dawned the realisation of the timelessness of an artist's work... Dilip Kumar was at the forefront of creativity and success in Indian Cinema for many decades of its golden age and has inspired countless actors from Dharamendra to Amitabh Bachchan to Shahrukh et al.. and somewhere down there in that list of the inspired I find a very earnest myself... I have always loved Dilipji, with not a feeling of an actor but strangely as an elder to look upto.. a person from my own family.. that I feel very close to tho I dont know him at all..
Anyway an old sketch from 13 years ago with a lil touch up.. (this was a printout of an image in our files which used a ruff sketch in the original..) Hope you like it and remember that we become who we do on the shoulders of the ones who came before us.. in his case, its the shoulder of a giant!

Dilip Kumar in 2000 and a flashback from Naya Daur..one of my favorite moments in Hindi cinema

HAPPY 50 YEARS DOCTOR WHO!!

I discovered the Doctor from his 11th incarnation.. so he is my favourite..His personality, quirks, mannerisms (as played by the amazing Matt Smith ) were just so animated that I quickly became addicted!! (Amy Pond played her part too.. to be fair) But this show was one of the most brilliant TV experiences ever.. for those who havent yet checked it out.. I dont know what to say.. cant describe what you have been missing!
The Doctor completed 50 years yesterday and the special episode "The day of the Doctor" was simulcast in 80 countries and 1400 cinema halls.. won it a place in the Guinness Book of Records!!

Here is a tribute to the Doctor's spirit. Heroic optimism! One of my favorite moments from the 5th season."The Pandorica opens"... the Doctor faces countless alien ships with nothing but his wits!

ANIMAGIC at COMIC CON EXPRESS Mumbai!!!

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!!

See you there!!!
EXCITED!!!!!!!!

RASCALS releases today!!

Please catch David Dhawan's latest comedy  starring Sanjay Dutt and Ajay Devgan... for our animation titles!!
Animagic has created a 3 1/2 min animation sequence which incorporates the opening credits with gags depicting the rascally duo's scams and cons..some starting from the time they were young! Watch baby Sanju and little Ajay begin their dubious careers in full 2d glory!! There's some more stuff in the intervals and the end so don't miss that either!
And maybe for the first time the hero of a movie is called Chetan!!!!! (for whatever reason..it still is chetan)
Here are some frames from this funky piece.

 the scamsters are always surrounded with babes!

 they steal with a smile!!

Starring the deadly dutt! Sanju Baba!! as Chetan!!

 starring Ajay Devg(a)n!! as Bhagat!!

 the main logo ..

 proudly proclaiming his distinction!

too cool..

Will post more stuff soon! Cheers!

Munna & Circuit!

After going thru all sorts of guilty feelings about not being able to find the space to sit and put down these random (and sometimes, not so random) thoughts.. I have reached the conclusion that my personal redemption lies in resuming this archaeological and anthropological investigation into ones artistic and personal journey. As such everybody indulges in it verbatim, but to carve it on the immense wall of introspective babble, art and myriad graffiti that is the blog world is an act requiring more than a touch of humility and love ( for oneself, and others-- now why don't I take that more seriously and spare them the verbiage above?)

SO I AM BACK!

More about the manifold experiences and adventures in the 'meanwhile' of my blog-absence, as usual, later..

For now, a cartoon of Munna & Circuit that graces the back cover of the screenplay of "Lage Raho Munnabhai!!" published and released this month..Should be available at most major bookstores.

We were very privileged to be a part of the production of this film by virtue of doing some of the effects and corrections thereby taking the load off the assigned post house..we had just come out of Eklavya then..seems like a very long time back now..(archaeology..)

This caricature of Sanjay Dutt & Arshad Warsi in the roles that have now become synonymous with them was presented to Sanjubaba on his birthday, I believe.. also it hangs proudly in the offices of VCF & Raju Hirani!!

Wish them all the best for many more such successes.. ALL IZZ WELL.. I suppose:)

(read about the book here: Scripted! Munna bhai on bookshelves.. alsohere, and here a video of the event, you can see the display..)

In a lighter vein: Amitabh Bachchan

Now for something completely different...or is it?!!
Remembered these sketches (made long ago when we were working on Ekalvya) when writing the last post.
Dusted & cleaned them up.. was fun.

Btw that's Amitabh Bachchan, India's greatest Star of the last four decades. Both the sketches are based on my own experience being around him during the shoot of Ekalvya. I must admit, that I entertained the notion he wouldn't be larger than life at all..
But I am glad to say he was quite as you would imagine him to be.. overall at least, the details can be slightly different, the idiosyncrasies etc.. but he was very much The Big B.

AB as the title character, Ekalvya had a problem of failing eyesight.. but being an expert marksman that he is , he could get his target by sound alone.. His dialogue to Saif in the climax.." bas ek awaaz do... blah blah" was a source of much mirth. On a another occasion, I remember the director briefing him, " Imagine you are a dog!! Like a dog is aware at the slightest sound and flicks his  ears..." AB listened intently, probably wondering how he would flick his ears about.. he may have tried.

AB always had a posse of armed guards about him.. we had heard they were provided by one or the other of his influential friends.. (most likely Amar Singh? or Subroto Roy?) anyway.. they were of uniform character & personality ( at least as far as we could see).. however on more than one occasion they failed their job as some die hard crazy fan from the crowd gathered in the middle of the desert in Bikaner to see the shoot, would dive out and make for the Man! This would usually be a middle aged lady in a sari who was probably crazy over him since her childhood days.. and it was usually very funny and strange to see all these strapping guards completely taken by surprise by this woman who left her modesty by the crowd just to touch the star..

Then they would all jump her and overpower her, pin her down.. whatever, as they regained control of the situation with true machismo and pretended as if nothing happened at all. The dedicated fan would win her star's attention for that fleeting moment, maybe an autograph if lucky and all would be normal again. we were lucky she wasn't a terrorist.. With guards like these..