India's Expanding Animation Horizons

by Jayanti Sen

PART II

Facing The East Today
We have seen how animation filmmaking began in the hands of Mandar Mullick and grew steadily in the hands of later animators in Part I. We must now learn about today's situation and what factors are contributing to its present state. After Mandar Mullick, the man who came to take up the cause of animation was Raghunath Goswami, who knew about Mandar Mullick's work and, driven by his own zeal for animation, located him by advertising in the newspaper! By then, Mandar was waiting aimlessly in front of a now defunct Calcutta TV studio with his last exposed negative reel in his pocket, hoping that they would be kind enough to buy it. The name of the film was probably Lagdom, Kalo Beral, or Black Cat, and was bought out of pity by the West Bengal State Government at a mere pittance of 25,000 Rupees, or approximately US$700, which no one would work for today. Mandar Mullick then collaborated with Raghunath Goswami on an ad-film, proving what a consummate artist he was by knowing how to exploit the Indian erotic sensuality of a woman's figure without being vulgar in the least. Mandar as an artist stands out in a separate niche among Indian animators; a man whose value we must try and re-evaluate more than 20 years after his death. His team used to work at a hectic speed creating 200-300 drawings per day and once, when cels were not available, Mandar even created his drawings on acetate sheets. He also experimented with other forms of animation like cut-outs and puppets, but financial constraints, his struggle with poverty and clients' indifferent response destroyed this highly talented animator. Like his unfinished storyboard Dreamers, Mandar died, his dreams of creating a proper animation industry in Calcutta unfulfilled. His death left such a great impact on his favourite student Ganesh Pyne, that Ganesh never created another frame of animation again, though he constantly paints. However his love and hankering for animation is still very much alive -- even today if he meets a young animator like us, his eyes become moist and shiny as he re-lives those days with loving nostalgia. Another animator, who worked in Delhi even before the days of Indian TV, was Harinarayan Bhattacharya who created an animation short Daduri Bhatta, which earned the respect of even Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. However, not much is known about him today and more research will probably unearth material on him later. Another animator from the Eastern Region who distinguished himself as one of the best puppet animators in Bombay, in the tradition of Jiri Trnka and others, was Ajoy Chakraborty. His film Nanhe Munnhe Sitare won a National Award. His other films Raju And Tinku in 1982 and Mr. Shortcut were all made for CFSI.