The success of movies like Hanuman and Bal Ganesha has made production houses realise the potential of the domestic market . |
The Indian animation industry is moving away from being just a back office for Hollywood studios and other international production houses. It is now creating original content for the local market. |
With the success of animated movies like Hanuman and Bal Ganesha, production houses and studios are realising the potential of the domestic market. Apart from animated movies, animation series on television with original content have also been garnering huge TRP ratings such as J Bole To Jadu on Nickelodeon, MAD on Pogo among others. |
The entertainment segment of the Indian animation industry is worth Rs 1,300 crore, says a Ficci-PwC report on the media and entertainment industry. |
Over the next four years the growth in domestic demand for TV/Broadcast animated content is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.5 per cent. It is forcast the domestic market will be worth Rs 150 crore in 2008 and will touch Rs 300 crore by 2010. |
The launch of new channels almost everyday and the resultant desire to provide diversified and original content has made media houses look for original and localised content. |
The Turner Group is one such instance. Cartoon Network and Pogo "" the group's two kids' channel "" are growing at a rate of 25 per cent annually and to keep up the momentum the channel decided to acquire local content, early on. |
"We started acquiring local animated content in 2001. So far we have acquired 20 properties. When we launched Pogo, we felt there was a void in terms of animated content," Monica Tata, vice-president, Advertisement Sales and Networks, Indian and South Asia, Turner International India said. |
She also believes that while acquisition will still constitute 50 per cent of their strategy, the group will also focus on creating original content in India. |
The latest acquisition by the group is Chota Bheem"" produced by Hyderabad-based Green Gold studios "" which will be aired this summer. On the localisation strategy, Tata says: "We started by dubbing the programmes that we had in Hindi. The next level came with the introduction of Tamil and Telegu languages and then we started looking for content that would add value to the channel." |
Graphiti is another firm that is bullish on the local market. Rather, it is one of the only firms which has been intent on creating original content. |
"Creation of animation in India or in the global market is the same. J Bole to Jadu that we created for Nickelodeon was based on Jadu-- from the movie Koi Mil Gaya. We felt we could successfully weave a story around him and it worked. While the series was just of 26 episodes the popularity was huge," says Munjal Shroff, director and COO, Graphiti Multimedia. |
Shroff is working with the Children's Film Society of India and creating films based on the folk art of India. However, he feels that Indian animation producers should come up with ideas other than mythology. |
"People need to realise that if we make animation series based only on god, we cannot cross our own shores," he adds. |
Agrees AK Madhavan, CEO, Crest Animation, who, having created some popular animation work in the international market, is now working on series for domestic market. Madhavan's company is also focused on creating animated films. |
"We are developing a few original properties for the domestic market and plan to invest close to Rs 80 lakh on each of these," adds Madhavan. |