India's Expanding Animation Horizons
(continued from page 2)
R.L. Mistry began his formal art background
as a graduate in painting from M.S. University, Baroda, Gujarat,
in 1966, joining NID for a post graduate degree in Graphic Design
between 1967 to 1970. In the meantime, animation activities started
at NID with even international animators visiting. Mistry refined
his skills in animation which included not only various aspects
of conventional animation but later, in keeping with the times,
he trained himself in computer aided animation in 1992 through self
generated special programmes. By then he had won the National Award
for his film National Highway in 1985. Today he has made
films which include Two Point Perspective, Little Fire,
Genesis A and Genesis B for the Trade Fair Authorities
of India, Din Pratidin for the Indian government's Directorate
General for Adult Education, and The Story Of Tails and Why
The Crows Call Caw Caw for the "Discovery of India"
Festival in Russia, 1987-1988. He designed several animated signature
images for India TV, and the National Drinking Water Mission among
others. As an animator, R.L. has remained prolific, constantly experimenting
with new ideas and methodology.
For more than a decade, he has remained faithful to his role as
an animation guide and teacher at NID. A duty he still continues,
greatly contributing to Indian animation. He trained his son Dipu
Mistry who decided to concentrate more on computer aided animation
at the Bureau of Information Technologies and Studies, Ahmedabad.
Later he set up his own studio, Deep Associates. Today, both Kireet
and Dipu are running their own studios. Dipu has created many successful
films for NID using computer graphics from PRAXIS and NGO, three
animation films for Channel V and Star TV Network, plus he designs
web sites for various clients. He also conducted a traditional animation
workshop and is involved in teaching animation at NID and other
institutions. His studio is continuously working to design animation
programmes to create more visually interesting animation images
and films. In fact, Deep Associates has become a resource for NID
students to make their own diploma projects, something we never
had.
As an animator, Bhimsain needs no introduction. Graduating in Music
from Benaras Hindu University, and starting as a young animator
at the Films Division's Cartoon Film Unit, he remained with the
Films Division up until 1969 creating interesting animation films
on social issues. But in the early `70s he went on to create his
own studio Climb Films named after his first award-winning animation
short The Climb. Under this banner he went on to create some
of his best films which are innumerable including Munni,
The Fire, Locked, Ek Anek Ekta, and others.
He has collaborated with the National Film Board of Calcutta to
make a number of films. Among his films one has gone somewhat unnoticed
by critics; Munni, a story of a mother-daughter relationship,
portrayed with sensitivity. His capacity to touch and move the heart
is an art in itself. From Munni's traditional cel animation
he has moved with equal ease to the claustrophobia of Locked,
created on the computer. In addition to his films, he has remained
equally busy creating advertisements. In the '90s he created two
animation serials, Vartmaan and Lokgatha based on
Indian folk tales. Airing on Indian TV they have gained immense
popularity. Another important task Bhimsain undertakes every year
ever since the Bombay Festival started is to organise an animators'
meeting at every festival where animators from various parts of
the world meet and extend ideas. This is something that Bhimsain
must be congratulated upon because by doing so, he is serving an
important function for Indian animation as a whole.
His son Kireet Khurana is a man who decided from the very beginning
not to be just a famous father's son. Before he became known as
a filmmaker, he was actively involved in his father's projects,
doing animation design, concept design, assisting and animating.
He later opened his own studio 2NZ. He has retained his interest
in computer aided animation so that 2NZ can work on both 2D and
3D animation projects. Kireet decided to receive formal animation
training from Sheridan College in Canada. While there, and since,
he has made a number of films: O, his diploma film at Sheridan;
Mahagiri, a deeply human story of a kind elephant; Trade,
a satirical computer-aided animation which caustically remarks on
the worst facets of business; Alphacat; Seema; and
Encore. He has won various national and international awards
in India and abroad, but his style of animation is very different
from Bhimsain. Kireet has more of a Western element in his filmmaking,
probably due to his training so he tends to move toward the abstract
and symbolic. This feeling could also be attributed to the fact
that many of these films were shot abroad as well. But his films'
sense of graphic design, interesting character design and elegant
flow of movement leave a lingering impression on the viewer.
To be continued...
Jayanti Sen has been working as a freelance journalist for various
English and Bengali journals in India and abroad for the last seventeen
years writing on subjects such as cinema, theatre, art, music, science,
puppetry, advertising and animation. She is also an animation filmmaker
who has had several of her films screened in International film
festivals.
