Hyderabad: Even as the Indian animation industry seems to be in doldrums due to slowdown, the new year looks bright as experts believe that new formats may spin the fortunes.
According to Rajiv Chilaka of Green Gold Animation Ltd, India doesn’t have an animation industry per se. “But, the introduction of new formats may create an industry,” he says, adding that it is a positive sign of survival for studios.
Mr Chilaka is the founder of Green Gold Animation that unveiled the quirky Chota Bheem to the world with followers from India, Pakistan, South East Asia and the Middle East.
The size of India’s animation industry is about Rs 1,130 crore, according to the FICCI-KPMG report 2012. Meanwhile, the global market for animation and gaming stands at $122-billion, with even smaller countries having deeper animation industries.
ÂThe sector is also seeing an acceptance of local animation movies. For instance: A Chhota Bh-eem film in 2012 raked in over Rs 5 crore in revenues. Though animation movie budgets in India are often less than Rs 5 crore, there is a growing audience for it, adds Mr Rajiv.
“India has more appetite for local shows and characters. This was evident in the previous year,” he said, adding that the movie ‘Chota Bheem and Throne of Bali’ has surpassed their expectations and landed them a contract from Disney. “A character called Arjun from the movie has been picked for a TV show with Disney. So, we are hopeful of the year being successful,” he reveals.
Experts says that characters from Diamond comics, Raj comics, Amar chitra katha, and others can be revived. Given that the advent of cartoon channels post 2000 have shifted the focus on myt-hological cartoon characters, there is hope for growth.
Even frms selling superhero merchandise see green shoots this year.
Karan Rai of planetsuperheros.com says “we are looking at reviving some of the Indian comic characters and introducing their merchandise.”
