BY ARTI DAS | NT BUZZ
Due to the availability of advanced technology making animation films may seem easy to the lay person. However, the fact is that it is a product of hard labour.
Milind Kuri of Goan origin, who has an experience of more than 12 years in animation, made his first animation short film of 10 minutes titled, Pensou - Do The Good. The making of this short 10-minute film involved a whopping 72 animation artists! The movie was screened at both the Short Film Centre and the Chota Cinema for the 42nd International Film Festival of India. It also won the first prize in the under 15-minute category at the Chota Cinema.
"This award means a lot to me as I am receiving it here in Goa. I consider it a big achievement for me," said Milind, while speaking to NT BUZZ, few minutes after winning the prize. He added, "I have skipped two film festivals to be here at IFFI and I think it was worth it."
He won a cash prize of ` 15,000 for this category. But for Milind money doesn’t make any difference. "For me acceptance my movie and it getting recognition here in Goa is more important," confirmed Milind.
Pensou - Do the Good is an interesting movie based on three characters, Pensou (a pencil), Rubby (a rubber) and Sharpie (a sharpener) who are interlinked. Even though this may sound like a children’s film, it is not. The movie is filled with philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and the three characters metaphorically represent three human emotions.
"The reason I decided to do animation is that I wanted to put across a serious message in a humorous manner so it would appeal to both, children and elders," says the Mumbai-based filmmaker who is a product of Goa College of Art.
Elaborating on the story he said, "These characters are actually three different human emotions. The eraser is connected to a Gandhian philosophy."
He further mentioned that this is a new type of storytelling where you build the story on existing characters.
The film is Milind’s first for the IFFI and he plans on submitting it to various film festivals of the world. "This movie is in the competition section of the Films Division Film Festival at Mumbai," he added.
When asked about the growth of the animation industry as a whole he informed that India is gaining brownie points due to outsourcing. "Indian animation industry earns an annual income of ` 3200 crores. This is mainly due to outsourcing," elaborates Milind, who works in the lighting, composing and sound development department.
Milind, who hails from Goa, confirmed that there are many Goan artistes who are creating their mark in the animation sector. "Actually Goa could become a good place for animation. But, there is no IT base here or the required software technology, etc," opined Milind.
He is now planning a full length animation feature film for which he says it will take him at least two years. "To make any animation feature film 12 departments work are involved, each with people strength of 25 to 30. So, it takes around 400 people to make one feature film," concluded Milind.
