Bollywood hopes Christmas animation is a draw for audiences
India’s animators are hoping that a film starring two of Bollywood’s biggest stars will revive the sector’s fortunes, after earlier efforts to popularise the cartoon genre fell flat.
Ajay Devgn and his wife Kajol appear in “Toonpur Ka Superrhero” (Toontown Superhero), whose combination of real-life actors and cartoon characters recalls the Oscar-winning film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” from 1988.
Box office success for the film, which is released on Friday, Christmas Eve, could spur more studios to finance home-grown animation projects, analysts say.
“The coming of mainstream actors in Bollywood is a big boost to the industry,” said Andrew Gonsalves, from Animation Reporter magazine. “This will help the industry a big way as more projects will now take off.”
Indian-made animation feature films were touted as the next big thing in 2005, as studios looked to utilise a vast pool of technical talent in animation and gaming that was increasingly being used by foreign filmmakers.
“It’s tough to get someone to finance an animation project in India. People are still wary of box office results,” Khurana told the Indian Express newspaper.
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