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.

Illustration Album: The Sweet & Spicy Sweetshop!! 2018

 

This book by Nandini Nayar had a very enjoyable story which had some nostalgic elements of a small time life, a delightful array of pastries and namkeen and some suspense and adventure to top it! The pictures were all in Black n white with the cover in color. Thanks to the Penguin team for giving me the opportunity!

The rough cover design

Animagic gets 'UNREAL'!! Our first film in 3D!

 So it's up!! We are very excited to present something totally different!!! Gayatri found herself in the Epic Games-Unreal Fellowship 1st ever Women Creators Program in India!

She was among the 21 creators selected who came from diverse backgrounds from programming, 2D animation - 3D animation, virtual production, Cinematography, producing etc..

They were introduced to the amazing Unreal engine and expected to come up with a film in the 4-5 weeks of the program, while the Technical advisors taught them, problem-solved and guided them thru an amazing learning process. Gayatri had zero technical interest but encouraged by Vani Saraswati agreed to participate in this new world.

Of Course she had us (Prajakta and me ) along for the ride- all of us technical nincompoops!!

So we scratched our heads, tried to keep up with the flow of knowledge but (very importantly) make the film we wanted to make. We will share our adventure in greater detail later. But UGAM is a sort of peek into a project brewing in G's head for a looooong time... The theme of the fellowship was amazingly in sync with it and we found more and more correlations as we went ahead...

https://vimeo.com/558597713

One of the most striking things about this program was how many difficulties were piled up- obviously the Pandemic- people had corona issues - some themselves -some had teammates dropping out due to illness etc (G herself had 2 deaths in her close circle, besides a hazaar bimaar who she had to help...) the various disruptions caused by the cyclone... internet connectivity and power outages... apart from the very challenging technical demands of learning something from scratch.. and make a film at the same time... for some, even the challenge of making their first ever film too!! And so many different creative ways of looking at a single theme!

Kudos to all the creators who survived and a big shout out to the EPIC team and all the mentors!For us it was wish fulfillment to see Agastya and Kaveri come alive!!

Congrats to G for sticking with the vision come hell or high-water (!)

Do watch all the other films of the program at the Unreal channel on Vimeo..

It is truly fascinating! and Surreal..Unreal...yay!! The future is here!

Tinkle star Shambu in new cartoons by Animagic!!

 The series of 10 Micro Shorts (>1 min) featuring Shikari Shambu (who was once a shikari-hunter- but is now a wildlife photographer!!) is a project really dear to me. I have always wanted all these popular characters who are now part of our collective memory to have their own cartoons which stay true to their personality and DNA ie. not make them into something they are not in the process of 'updating' them. So this was our honest sincere take on this beloved star of TINKLE comics.

Being a series of shorts, one could explore him as a real person in that even tho we have the great comic strips, how does he move how fast? how slow? what does he sound like? It was a great challenge!

And with the script ideas from Kuriakose Vasian and team to leap off, we were given tremendous freedom to imagine, design and execute our vision! Their excitement and glee at every stage kept our fires fueled!!

I have to thanks profusely the team at ACK/Tinkle esp Saju (the above mentioned Kuriakose Vasian), Tinkle editor Rajani Thindiath, Shambu's current caretaker Savio Mascarenhas and CEO Preeti Vyas for this gift.

On the art and production front, Gayatri and Prajakta weathered the storms alongside.. All the four legged inspirations - Shambho, Dumroo, Teddy, Jugni, Nanha, Bilwa and Omie - have to be particularly mentioned becoz you will see their attitudes modelled into Lions, Tigers, Tortoises and even monkeys! This was a sorta dream thing to do.. heck! I even got to play Shambu!! ;)))

The Music was very special to me as we really wanted a certain vibe that is still missing in Indian cartoons to a large degree. This was made possible by composer Chirag Panchal who has the spirit of the old masters in him for sure. The ever reliable Jyotika was at hand to oversee the music process and lend her sweet voice to the Title track!

All the design, storyboard, animatic, backgrounds and compositing and post was done inhouse @ Animagic!! ... but it was a challenge to find a production studio that could attempt the sort of animation we were looking for. This finally came in the form of Regh Animation studio who worked on the animation of most of the episodes. Thanks to Sangram Borse and his team which also included a few past animagicians!

While this has the seeds of a great opportunity, it really needs all your support to take it to its logical conclusion!! Please do share with all your friends and show that a market exists for this and many other childhood favorites to made into cartoons of the best quality possible.. This is only the tip of the iceberg!!

Do tune into the Suppandi and friends YOUTUBE channel for the 5 remaining cartoons premiering today from 7pm to 8pm every 15 mins!

"the Man who spoke in Pictures" Masterclass @ MIFF 2020

Please do join us in our homage to Shri RamMohan on Sunday the 2nd of February in the Mumbai International Film Festival ( #MIFF'20)

Screening of selected shorts from 11.30 am to 1pm @ RRIII theatre.
Masterclass by Chetan Sharma "The Man who spoke in pictures" @ RRIII theatre from 5.15pm to 8.30pm.

Please do come and spread the word to all who are interested in animation or filmmaking. This is a great opportunity to see a summary of a long creative life like no other..
Everybody in the animation community, this is a special request to all of you to come together to celebrate the life of one of the founding fathers of Indian animation. There is much to learn!! Please do share and support.
See ya there!

Torchbearers of Indian Animation @ MIFF2020

Padmashri RamMohan: The life of a Legend TASI session!

It a huge honour and overwhelming responsibility to curate this retrospective of Padmashri RamMohan presented by The Animation Society of India, TASI.
We hope it will become more than a lineup of his work, becoming instead, an 'Appreciation' of his ceaseless creativity as we show excerpts from a long career of nearly 60 years starting with the creation of Film' Division's Cartoon Film Unit in 1956 all the way to 2015!! and peppered with his sketches of characters, storyboards, concepts and anecdotes from key people concerned with these projects!!
Also with all the enthusiasm that we have gathered from speaking to his and our numerous colleagues, it promises to be a reunion of sorts for the very large RamMohan 'gharana' whose members drive a large chunk of Indian Animation today.
Please consider this post a personal invitation from TASI, The
Animation Society of India, Gayatri and myself to attend this event. 21 December, Whistling woods, Goregaon. 11 am sharp.
Please share and pass on to all who might be interested!! Its a free event!

"On the Joy of Working with Children" Interview in the Hindu

Well... This interview was quite a pleasure as the reporter was actually interested in the work and asked meaningful questions... thats fairly rare.. ;)
A pleasant side-effect of the second edition of the Vizag Junior Literary Fest which I had the pleasure of participating in last month...

https://www.thehindu.com/children/illustrator-chetan-sharma-on-the-joy-of-working-with-children/article30114385.ece?fbclid=IwAR1GRV5Sr7rp5V9760TcNlQowAQ1ItYhzFiwUb1UILRHEgXjFETrXyMK7zk

A hundred years ago! - Dadasaheb Phalke's Shri Krishna Janma form 1918!!

On this happy day I was made even happier by the discovery of this treasure on youtube!!! We live in lucky times! SO presenting Dadasaheb Phalke's presentation on Krishna's birth from 1918!!!!! Exactly a hundred years back!!One of the early pioneering efforts in Indian filmmaking, 'the film' is not complete but only a very small fragment 10% (less than six mins) of its original hour long length... 

And it is a silent film - jumpy-jerky-all over the place to our 'well adjusted to cinema spectacle' eyes... but its a wonder to behold nevertheless.. for me at any rate :)

And as a bonus the video is combined with a fragment of another Phalke film - 1927's Bhakta Prahlad!!

Only sticking to Shri Krishna's theme for now -

Witness the harried people beseeching the Gods for help as Lord Vishnu reclined on Sheshnag with Devi Lakshmi and Brahmaji on the lotus emerge from the sea..Lord Vishnu 'shows' the suffering folk his intent.. he will incarnate as Shri Krishna, but transforming into the little child.. (this is a simple and great example of the visual language.. seems obvious but isn't)

Dadasheb Phalke's daughter Mandakini Phalke plays little Krishna in this as well the other epic "Kaliya Mardan" 1919

Then the fragments again 'show' Kamsa's hallucination.. yes.. this 'akashvani' or the warning from the ether is also shown in a brilliant sequence where Kamsa is overwhelmed by multiple Shri Ks of different ages who he tries to fight off in vain by slashing at air with his sword! 

But... before that is on of the great examples of visual effects in films, which stands well against the best being done anywhere in the world at that time ( incl George melies!!) Kamsa hallucinates or sees his head flying off his body in a geyser of blood!! "It is part of film lore that the blood in this trickshot was hand tinted red!" - Light of Asia -Indian silent Film edited by Suresh Chabria- #currentlyreading - #serendipity)

I love this end of film title card... apparently the silent film was accompanied by actual singing of bhajans and aartis at the end of screening for the devout to get the full experience of having witnessed Shri Krishna!

Enjoy and salute the great pioneers on whose shoulders we stand -(or try to :))

Shri Krishna Janmashtami - an offering

...The baby cried as soon as the shackles were back on and the gates shut once again behind them.. The sleeping soldiers who had snored thru the entire adventure of Krishna being born and smuggled out of prison were roused from their sleep.. they rushed to their king! 

Outside the rain, wind and thunder continued their violent performance anxious and steadily moving to the climax of the events of this long night..

"The poor child!!" she wailed.. "but its a girl, Devaki! the prophecy said the eight would be a boy..."! Even though he had been out in the rain most of this night crossing the Yamuna in spate, twice, to transport the saviour to safety to his friend, Nand's house and bringing back his newborn child as instructed by the Divine voice.

The tyrant wasted no time in getting to the dungeons... this was the moment of truth.. the moment he had been waiting for... the moment for which he had his sister and her husband imprisoned... the birth of the eight son! The son who was foretold to be his doom! His eyes bloodshot with the anxiety of years he looked at the child... a girl?... brushing away Vasudev and Devaki's pleas for mercy, he held the infant by her leg like he had all her seven elder brothers... and raised the wailing child up in the air to dash her to the ground like he had the rest...
but she slipped from his fingers and became light.. before he could blink, she laughed!
She was MahaMaya- the goddess of illusion herself and she teased him "your slayer is alive and well...!!
Kamsa's life was now of a man waiting for his death.. he would fight his fate ofcourse... but his every living moment would be consumed with the vision of the avenging child.. his nightmares were the dreams of deliverance for the people of Mathura...and indeed his own... though he knew it not.

art & retelling (C) Chetan Sharma 2018

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

Tomorrow!!!! See you in Pune!

Getting excited..1st ever session on 'Swami Ayyappan'

"Work in Progress" Behind the scenes of 'Swami Ayyappan' & 'Return of the Jungle!'

This weekend its a date in Pune- the cultural capital of Maharashtra!
The Animation Society of India (TASI) has organised a session on the 30th to bring two directors to spill/spell out the ingredients of their recipes for making their latest animation projects which are still under-production!
Vaibhav Kumaresh (Vaibhav Studios) will present the WIP of his labour of Love "Return of the Jungle" (40mins, 3D animation) & Yours humbly will present the labours of the last one and half year behind Animagic's 2nd feature length film- a co-production with Toonz Animation India- "Swami Ayyappan" (90mins, 2D )

The presentations will include animatics, developmental sketches, character designs, layouts, Storyboards, as well as finished scenes!!

The intention behind the presentation is to share the inner workings of the movie making process.. to  debunk a few myths but also initiate the audience into the mysteries of animated filmmaking... an art that is only learnt thru persistent doing it.. doing it...and doing it some more! 
We will share our own paths that are different and yet have so much in common as well. . How we have translated our love and passion for animation will be easily understandable with the behind the scenes material.  We hope to transfer some of the joy we feel making animation films and maybe have an exchange of ideas with the audience about the shape of things to come.

 We are very excited!!! Please Gather all your friends for this special afternoon..we promise to make it worth your while!!!

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 completes 16 years!!

Since my last post for Mahashivaratri 2012, so much has happened it is not going to be possible to recount in a single post. Animagic watchers may have gleaned some of the goings-on from stray posts on the website or the occasional facebook news... but an an amazing lot happened... mostly happy stuff! :) peppered with a few tragedies (life..:( )
So with sincere gratitude to all above and below, here follows something like an annual report- a brief recounting of Animagic's adventures through 2012-13

Buongiorno Italia!
First, Animagic represented Indian animation in a special Cartoons on the Bay (Italy) focus on India.* Yours humbly along  with representatives of 4 other studios, presented various shades of  'Indian emerging'... DQ entertainment was also awarded International Studio of the year in the light of its major presence in European  animation and for its (growing financial contribution to the same via acquisitions etc) All in all a great time was had. TRIPURA was screened, appreciated and led to some great conversations. Impromptu picnics brought together the attending Indian delegates and created/ strengthened friendships..

Pakdam Pakdaai!
Which almost directly leads to the second thing; The acquaintance and consequent friendship with Hari Varma of TOONZ Trivandrum brought 2 new projects into Animagic. One of which was/is 'Pakdam Pakdaai" a chase comedy style cartoon currently on air on Nick at 6.30 pm daily.. We did the pre-production for the show's 7 episodes (each 21 mins episode with 3 cartoons of 7 mins duration) ie we did the turnarounds & expression sheets of all the main characters and then storyboarding/ flash animatic/ + designs of incidental characters and environments, + painting of master bgs).. An exhausting scheduling but a great experiment and validation: It has always been our belief that sincere, hardworking freshers can beat the disadvantage of not having field experience with proper mentoring. Our young team (mostly from Symbiosis, Pune) along with a handful of people of varying exposure to cartoon animation made up with their energy and commitment what they may have lacked initially in terms of experience. Kudos to Rohan, Shaunak, Anshita, Mitali who were eventually even supervising artists with up to 15 years experience!! Very proud of them all!
The project was wrapped up to the satisfaction of all in March 2013.. fingers crossed for PP's season 2..*

Call of the Divine!
The other major highlight of the year was beginning a new feature film!! Also in collaboration with Toonz, this time a co-production for a 90 minute venture that might become a big event in the coming year if all goes well. SWAMI AYYAPPAN, the boy-God revered by millions has never converted into an animation project ( people have tried). This first time telling of his exploits is co-directed by yours truly with the talented Mahesh Vettiyar of Toonz who has written the script. Being made in Malayalam ( yes, right!) this feature id designed and directed (and also now animated) in Animagic. Unlike Tripura, where the animation was outsourced to Malaysia, this film has been farmed out to several Indian studios who are all contributing little segments. While this kind of collaboration has been carried out by some before, this time is unique in many ways that will merit a separate post. Its looking good so far and we endeavor to make it worth the average Ayyappan- follower's time and the public's money. Its a lot of work (punishing to say the least, but it echoes the principle behind the pilgrimage to Sabarimala- a long and arduous journey to truth and purification) May we succeed.*

Notable also for more new entrants into Animagic- Mitra, part of the fresher group ( possibly the youngest in the studio) already has the entire animatic edit of an animation feature film to her credit.. Nilesh who has over the years accumulated much experience in the art of background painting but not allowed himself to be jaded or commercialized  His inspiration is Kazuo Oga (and I feel his work in Ayyappan is as sincere as Oga's for Ghibli) if he keeps up - Animation background art in India (as opposed to matte painting) will flourish and inspire the next gen!

The project!
Also finally a major (secret) collaboration with Ram Madhwani was also initiated and will soon be completed as well. A graphic novel/ live-action pre-production* project this also has an Indian root and very spiritual center which both Ram and I have had to search for within ourselves as well. Ram has been hard at that. I just about manage to draw.
All exciting stuff tho, needing growth by handfuls and never a complacent run. Typical Animagic project! Only made possible by vigilant support from Prajakta and G.

Executive style!
Throughout this busy year, we have had the good luck to have found our very first Production supervisor and all round manager- Shital who did yeoman work in harnessing the young talents to their deadlines- without losing integrity. For the former and especially the more important latter part we are grateful to her. She is the first executive management that Animagic has had and as such, a wonderful omen of things to come.

Commercials!

The ad work included small bits for Voltas all weather ACs and I-pill redux in the form of I-SURE, a corporate film for Videocon, several pre-production & storyboard projects like the HIPPO -One World tvc, Maruti, GreenLam laminates-Soundarya Premi etc.*

Events & lectures!
Apart from these the projects some happy incidents included accolades from the Industry as 'Lionheart leaders of Independent animation for both G(ayatri) and yours humbly, sponsored by ARENA, an invitation to speak at the MAAC event in Goa with both students and mentors about animation, character design and the need for artists not mere technicians. Thanks to the door-drishti of Sanjiv Waeerkar & his team which wanted the students to aim higher. A very urgent need indeed and not just for MAAC students.*
A session at the Ecole-Inuit design labs, organised by Jamila Varawala turned into a discussion on 'why we do what we do' : a meditation on the sources of our inspiration and the quest for sincerity in art.

Ohayo gozaimasu Japan !
Last but not the least was a unexpected visit to Japan organised by AOTS, which brought together 19 animation artists and professionals for a 9 day visit to the land of the rising sun and Anime!! With guest lecturers ranging from long time (now retired) director of Doraemon, the legendary Shibayama sensei to the multi award winning Koji Yamamura (for 'mount head') to the head of the Japan Animation Association, an enlightening time was had by all. Topped with a visit to the Sensoji shrine, Kamakura (the birthplace of the samurai), the awesome Fujiko. F. Fujio (Doraemon) museum and the enchanting Akihabara district with its comic and toy shops which saw all of us become crazy kids again!!*

Woof!
The canine team saw new addition in the form of OMie, Teddy n Noddy..* Many canine adventures peppered our lives throughout the year.. but puppy love grew in leaps n bounds! Shambho & Damroo are doing very well too..

*Each of these events deserves a separate post to detail the experiences and learning... every life event has been informing the next and enriching it... Today is the first day I have taken an off to sit down and recap life...I hope that I will be able to note the unique gifts of every step before they merge into subconscious ocean of learnings.

For now A very happy birthday to Animagic! congrats to Animagicians for being splendid and a dream for the year ahead!

Thanks for the patience and till the next time (soon... :))