Will Shilpa Ranade's animation film be a pathbreaker?

Will Shilpa Ranade's animation film be a pathbreaker?
MOHAMMED WAJIHUDDIN

He is the quintessential prankster in Indian mythology. The cowherd who sights a beautiful women bathing. In a fit of mischief he hides their clothes, then climbs up a tree and plays romantic tunes on the flute. The startled women beseech him to give them back their robes.

An all too familiar scene. But this time round it's not part of a mega mythological TV serial on the multi-faceted god Krishna. Instead it's a novel 14-minute animation film, The Childhood of Krishna, made by Shilpa Ranade and one which won critical acclaim at the Mumbai International Festival last year,and the Hiroshima Festival, 2000.

Ranade's film on Krishna was one of the 10 commissioned by Channel 4 on its world religions series.

This and three other animation films made by Ranade ---Mani's Dying, The Harvest and Naja Goes to School-- were screened at the British Council on Friday. A panel discussion on Animation for Communication followed the screening.

A gold medalist from the Sir J J Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai, and an M Phil in Animation from Royal College of Art, London, Ranade's Naja Goes to School was also invited to the Hiroshima Festival 2000. Based on the autobiography of writer Shantabai Kamble, Picture Book of My Lifeê,it is the story of a twelve-year-old low caste girl Naja who faces ostracism at school and has to drop out. A new principal tells the the girl she cannot cope in an agricultural school. She wants to go to Pandharpur to continue her studies, but her father say, ``We are poor people. I cannot afford the cost of your education at Pandharpur.'' A dream dies young. An animation film ends.

The panel discussion which followed was lively with the youth throwing interesting questions to the panellists who included head (animation) of National Institute of Film Design, Ahmedabad Nina Sabani, producer at Films Division Bankim Kapadia, head of UTv(Toons) Ram Mohan and CEO of B4U channel Ravi Gupta.

A justifiably irked Ranade pointed out how animation had yet to get its dues in India. Still mired in bureaucratic babudom the only animation films made are those on family planning and other bits of governmental propaganda. ``The Indian government has not realised the importance of animation. In the UK, you will find several funding agencies coming up to sponsor animation films. Here, except for the Films Division, no other government agency really shows interest in animation films,'' said Ranade.

Sabani admitted to a financial crunch and the lack of a funding agency to support animation films. ``We need an Art Council which can help young talent to hone their skill,'' she said.

So, while Indian kids virtually devour Cartoon Network and stuff from Walt Disney, our indigenous animators seek desperately look for funds. Mohan, one of the pioneers of animation in India, agreed: ``Foreign-made animation programmes are popular among our children. We too can make such programmes, but no private party is ready to put money into it. Still the scenario is not so bleak. When we set up animation section at UTV in '97, we started with just 40 people in our studio. Now we have 400 people. This shows the growing interest in animation.''

Apart from the costs, animation is very time-consuming. For example, the seven minute Naja Goes to School took Ranade two years to complete. From scripting to designing to sound breakdown, to the final touches on computer, it is a long, tiring process.``It is like working backwards,'' said Ranade. ``But once you are hooked onto it, the job becomes simple and satisfying.''

While MTV and Channel V have already begun innovating with animation films Doordarshan has still to take the. B4U says they are planning to introduce animation while Kapadia says he has kept Film Division's door open for good subjects.