Indian Animation Industry Comes of Age

By Adite Chatterjee

Move over Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo and Batman. Indian animation characters like Telani Raman, Tara Shroff and Chhota Birbal have begun to make their mark as India is poised to become the hot new destination for animation. According to NASSCOM Animation Report, the total global animation production market was valued at between US $16 and $35 billion in 2000, rising to $45 billion in 2002 and is estimated to touch $51.7 billion by end-2005. The report further mentions that the global entertainment market for animation production services was $37 billion  in 2003.

The opportunity for Indian animation producers is tremendous. Today, animation studios are catering to the requirements of various end-user segments such a as feature films, television programmes, commercials and computer games. Animation solutions, such as special effects in movies, web entertainment programmes, TV broadcast graphics, 3D modeling and background development, are also being developed by Indian studios. Total animation production by Indian producers  is estimated to touch $1.5 billion in 2005, according to one estimate. As NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik remarked at the Animation India 2005 seminar in Hyderabad recently, "Although the animation industry in India is just five years old, there is huge potential for the industry to grow and there are many areas of opportunities that have not been tapped so far."

One area where Indian animation has begun to make its presence felt is in the development of cartoon characters. One of the most popular made-in-India cartoon characters has been Deewana, the SET MAX tiger which is used during the telecast of cricket matches on the channel. The tiger pops up at different points in the game - especially when the cricketer has hit a four or has bowled out - and its quirky ways have found a huge audience. Deewana presents a branding opportunity for the channel. Another popular character is that of  Bahadur of Bahadur Comics. This Indian character has replaced Western characters such as Phantom and Tarzan Chotta Birbal is another character, which has been created by 2NZ Animation has found international acceptance. Toonz Animation India which has produced a 26-episode serial called The Adventures of Tenali, has entered into an agreement with a London based company Indigo to distribute the serial. Indigo will take the programme worldwide and has been granted television, video, DVD and licensing  rights. Purple Image Technologies, a Mumbai-based studio, has developed Tara Shroff, an animation character that has been inspired by the best selling movie character Lara Croft. Tara has been created to appeal to both Indian and Western audiences: Tara has the Third Eye, which is completely identified with the Indian ethos. But her attire is westernised. The Third Eye symbolizes the power of Tara's mind. Purple Image has a tie-up with a Canadian studio who are looking at using Tara as television software in Canada.

Several factors have led to the growth of the Indian animation industry, including skilled manpower and presence of animation studios. Low cost of animation services is also a competitive advantage as according to NASSCOM's study the rates of production for a half hour TV animation programme is just $60,000 in India compared to $250,000 - $400,000 in the US and Canada. Content developers are also in ample supply due to the existence of a large entertainment industry. A heritage of traditional stories and literature makes development of content a far more viable proposition in India. The major players in the Indian animation market are among others Crest Communications, Maya Entertainment, Silvertoon Studio, 2NZ Studio, UTV Toons, Toonz Animation, Padmalaya Telefilms, JadooWorks, Purple Image Technologies.

According to Biren Ghose, CEO, Animation Bridge: "The IT services outsourcing business has come up with a very flattering conclusion, especially for the animation industry - that of all the countries in the world India is the most attractive to give your outsourcing business to." However, Ghose feels that the animation industry should go beyond infrastructure concerns and focus on unexplored areas such as distribution. Creativity and innovation are the other aspects which the animation industry in India really needs to work upon, Ghose observed at the Animation India 2005 seminar. "Indian animation will become all that we are professing it to be if we focus on the fact that we should be experts in creativity and use good quality technology."

[icfdc.com, 17 January 2005]