Outside Arunachal Pradesh very few people know about Abotani and his exploits, but with a London-based trust planning to make an animated movie on the mythical hero, the folk tales can now soon reach a wider audience.
Adivasi Arts Trust, a London-based organisation, works for reviving indigenous arts and culture through digital media and animation, hopes to release the movie by the year-end.
Abotani is the hero of folktales of Tani tribes of the Himalayan state comprising Apatani, Nyishi, Adi, Tagin and Hill Miri tribes.
The story of the film titled 'Abotani' revolves around his attempt to free himself and his friends Kiipu (a dog) and Duumpoo (a deer) from the clutches of Digo Ane (Keeper of Land) and his relation with brother Yapom, a spirit.
The makers of the movie have a plan to screen it in schools, festivals and cultural events in Arunachal Pradesh as well as UK.
The secretary of the trust, Tara Douglas, told PTI in an e-mail interview, "The movie, which we are planning to release by the end of this year, gives a message of mankind's interdependence on the natural and supernatural worlds."
The pre-production work for the short film was made in an animation workshop at the Department of Mass Communication in Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh in 2013 in collaboration with the Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation, Douglas said.
The animation models were made by British animation model professional Jonathan Marchant from the designs made in the workshop, she said adding they were also inspired by the traditional art exhibited in the JN State Museum in Itanagar.
The stop motion animation was done by Indian animators Wangdan Wangpan (Arunachal Pradesh), Rabindra Kumar Bhagat (Jharkhand) and Kirat Brahma (Assam) who are still pursuing their studies in the National Institute of Design.
Douglas said two miniature huts made of bamboos in the traditional Galo style were taken all the way to Delhi from Arunachal to be used on the set.
