ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000

India's Expanding Horizons

by Jayanti Sen

Part III

Watch the trailer for Sinbad, The Veil of the Mists. © Pentafour.

Ishu Patel Makes Waves Outside India
As Indian animators like Ram Mohan and Bhimsain were gradually making their presence felt in world animation, a quiet village boy from Gujrat went out to join the National Film Board of Canada and stun the world -- Ishu Patel. From an unschooled village boy whose first canvases were mud walls and first pens just pieces of chalk, Ishu became an excellent graphic designer trained at the National Institute of Design (NID), and then with the help of a Ford Foundation Scholarship he was sent to Switzerland for higher studies in Graphic Design by NID. On his return he taught at NID for a short stint but was already working on animated films. Thus a Rockefellar Foundation Scholarship enabled him to join the National Film Board of Canada.

At the NFB, Ishu Patel made more than fifteen films like Paradise, The Bead Game, Island and more. In his animation, Ishu brings a pronounced touch of the surrealistic, delving into the depths of the human psyche. His films tell us that at a certain point, animation should be "felt," rather than just seen. Immediately following his father's death, Ishu made a film, Afterlife, where we feel the traumatic state of his mind through a strong series of stylized graphic images. At NID Ishu made one film using cut-out animation, and his total control over animation, movement and his sensitivity to music is very clear in this film. Today Ishu Patel is a name to reckon with and in the international arena he presents India's capability very well. He has now left active filmmaking to teach animation at the University of Southern California.

Manick Sorcar -- A Silent Magician At Work
With magic in his blood and growing up in an atmosphere that was seeped in wizardry of all sorts of magicians, young and old, it was no wonder when an electrical engineer chose another form of magic -- the willing suspension of disbelief in the form of animation filmmaking. For Manick Sorcar is the eldest son of the world-famous magician, P.C. Sorcar.

When his own work as an engineer lead him to settle in the United States, in the city of Denver, Colorado, Manick decided to stay. But remaining away from home and hearth could not take him away from his own personal and cultural roots in India. But because he was seeing a lot of animation all around him, he decided to take a different path -- that of combining live-action and animation. Thus Deepa And Rupa: A Fairytale From India came into being. The story of two sisters, one good and the other evil, explains how each of them receive the results of their conduct from the reigning deity of the moon. The film was very well received at several international children's programmes. Children lapped up the film with its exciting storyline and the sheer fun of seeing live-action characters interacting with animation characters. The film was even screened at various schools in the States, and the result was overwhelming.

This enthusiastic response led Manick to embark on a far more ambitious project: The Woodcutter's Daughter. Since he is taking all his stories from Indian roots, Manick Sorcar and family, a lot of who are connected with the filmmaking process as actresses. Apart from promoting the cause of Indian animation in general, they are also the cultural ambassadors from an Indian point-of-view. For this Manick and his team should be highly applauded.

The Woodcutter's Daughter has a lovely storyline about a squirrel who is adopted by a poor woodcutter and turned into a human baby by a fish with magical powers. The story holds a final surprise for us; it is all about how and whom the beautiful squirrel-turned-woman chooses for a husband. Manick enjoys playing with colours, and toying around with movement, so this endears him even further to his young audience.

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