Flight of Fantasy

His experiment with animation is a world away from the stark themes that he often opted for in the past and the choice of this new genre,he explains,is due to various factors. “I have always been interested in animation and graphic novels. Ram Mohan,the father of animation in India,was somewhat instrumental for my interest,” says Nihalani. “Since animation films were expensive to make,attempting one earlier was a big risk,” he adds.

Nihalani decided to wait. It was immediately after Dev that he took up the sole responsibility of conceptualising,writing and executing this animation film. “The success of Bal Hanuman in the animation genre changed the rules for animation in India. This got me thinking,” admits the filmmaker who spent a large part of the last few years bringing this film to life. “Animation is a long and slow process. Many people thought I was doing nothing,but I was involved deeply in this project. In my spare time,I also developed three scripts,” he says.

With animation still in its nascent stages in India,Nihalani was unsure about developing his movie here. “However,Krayon Pictures in Pune did a fantastic job animating it,” he adds. Kamlu Happy Happy is the story of a baby camel who wants to fly. The film is in 3D and will release this summer in both English and Hindi. “The crux of the story is dreaming the impossible and making it happen,” he says. This sums up the Padma Shri awardee’s journey as well.

Nihalani may be in the mood to experiment with a different genre,but he hasn’t left his niche behind. In his next few films — a Marathi movie based on playwright Vijay Tendulkar’s play and a Hindi film written by him — Nihalani will conform to the realistic themes.

The success of offbeat films in the recent past is also an indication that his comeback is timed well. “After every 10 years,the mindset of people and the core audience change and vis-a-vis the industry evolves. Tigmanshu (Dhulia),Vishal (Bhardwaj),Dibakar (Bannerjee) and Anurag (Kashyap) have set the pace for a different kind of cinema in Bollywood. But only those films that tackle contemporary society will be accepted. That has been a norm,and will continue to be,” he says.