India's Expanding Horizons
by Jayanti Sen
Part III
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Watch the trailer for Sinbad,
The Veil of the Mists. © Pentafour.
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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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