TRIPURA at International Animation Day celebrations at NCPA, Sunday 6th nov!!

Its animation celebration time of the year again!!
This year the lineup of sessions at the ASIFA India organised International Animation Day celebrations (IAD 2011 from 6th-13th November) is very exciting!
Presentations include the making of 'Despicable Me", ' Disney's Tangled', Virtual Cinematography for Animation' and ...hold your breath...Animagic's TRIPURA!!!

After the exciting response to the presentation in Anifest (August), we are really kicked about IAD coz we will share this amazing journey with our animation friends not just in Mumbai but Pune (9th nov), Indore (11th nov) and Hyderabad (13th nov) as well!! And on the menu will be a behind the scenes look at creating an animated film- concept art, character design, storyboard, color art and the voice recording sessions! All the original, homegrown, all natural ingredients for the mythological epic! Do come!!!

TRIPURA's journey has been a special experience for me and all at Animagic. To share our discoveries and the process which opened up new worlds for us is really special. I sincerely thank the organisers and animation lovers of the various sessions in Delhi, Indore, Kolkata, Pune and ofcourse aapli Mumbai for their support and enthusiasm to Animagic & TRIPURA.



I wish to invite the visitors to this blog to this event and our session day after or at the other venues this coming week.

Om Namah Shivaya!


ASIFA India hosts the International Animation Day (28th October) celebrations in India every year. The event has been growing steadily since its first edition in 2002 and now involves day long festivities in several cities over the period of a week. This includes workshops and activites for young talent as well a series screenings of films and sessions by film-makers and animators! There is also the ASIFA India award of Excellence, amongst the first instituted in the country by the animation community! Go to http://www.asifa.in/iad11  for more details!!

Animagic's association with this event goes way back, we won the first ever Award of Excellence for 'Raju & I' and have supported the event wholeheartedly! Besides serving on the jury often,we conducted ' Drawing for Animation workshops' regularly in the Mumbai event which were met with much enthusiasm.

TRIPURA: Character Designs 1: Maya

the many moods of Maya- the Architect of Tripura

One of the most amazing stages of animation film making is character development!!

where personalities emerge where there were just names or concepts earlier... what does Maya look like..how old does he look.. his three wards.. what are they like...what is the appearance of Vishnu, Brahma and most importantly Shiva himself?

What about the world of the story..other supporting cast who will interact with these main characters and make the story real for the viewing audience? the refugee asura people who become prosperous only to become refugees again.. the deva council with Agni, Vayu the sages...the deva and the asura warriors who would fight the big battle..

Tripura was a truly ambitious film to design. Its scale and proportions were epic in the true sense of the world. We always designed acc to the needs of the story and characters and then if needed tailored them for the production format. Really no reason to think we couldn't have an epic for the small screen!...sigh..

Maya's design seemed to appear complete from the ether!! On left are the first scribbles, and then the third.. the final Design..

A turnaround of the character's final design is provided to the production company.

After Maya got designed, I finally realised who he reminded me of!!! I seemed to have subconsciously cast a dear friend's brother in the starring role!! Murli Menon (who has since become a dear friend himself!) was of course overjoyed!! And as we came to know him better, he turned out to be a major entertainer!! quite unlike our too serious Maya in the film.. He's too talented!! and great presence too! He should be in show business!!!

BTW his sister, our dear friend, her name... Maya!!!!!! Go figure!!

TRIPURA on Cartoon Network: 12 pm, 30th Jan 2011!!

Lord Vishnu presides over the PR activity of the film on Shiva

So it is upon us.. beloved Tripura releases on the above mentioned date..ie tommorrow!!

30th jan 2011!! 12 noon.. please watch it and send in your comments/ observations/ appreciation/ criticism.. I shall save my apologies for later ...or not!! ;)

Images from the pre-production/design of the film, done at the studio. The excellent colorwork is by two very talented artists, Sachin Kondhalkar and Vinod Sawant. Layouts by your truly... These appeared with an animation Xpress release.

Maya escapes with the three princes from the burning asura kingdom..

he watches the asura refugees make their way into the wilderness.

The magnificient temple of Shiva constructed by Maya

Indra comes to entreat Shiva to aid his cause.. will he?

Shiva's peak where the brothers practice austerites to please Brahma

rough layout + storyboard images: Maya raises the princes in the desolate mountains

A long and turbulent journey has ended.. a chapter closes in our eventful history. and it already feels like such a long time back. The last few months have seen a gradual return to form after the fairly life-draining exercise. Animagic resurrects itself slowly but surely.

The world of Tripura and its characters is everpresent in my blood stream..

The First Animated Feature from Animagic!!!

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!!

read the report on Animation Xpress & Variety.com. Dont miss the exclusive slide show of the visual development and color script!!