A militant monkey,a rogue parrot,a know-it-all bear and a silent leopard the list of quirky characters sounds as if taken from a Hollywood animation. However,the film Delhi Safari is purely Indian dealing with the theme of deforestation and the threat to wildlife. Its makers want the film to be the first one to break out of the traditional Indian mindset of creating animation based on mythological characters. It will also be the first-ever Indian animated film made in stereoscopic 3D. The animation for the film,which is directed by Nikhil Advani,has been done by Pune-based Krayon Pictures. Its director Media and public relations,Rashmi Ahad,says,We started working on the film,officially,in 2007,and it was ready in 2010. However,that was a regular feature film in 2D. Later,we decided to shift to stereoscopic 3D as the technique had become popular after the release of movies such as Kung Fu Panda and Rango. Shooting a movie in stereoscopic 3D is a laborious task. Arpan Gaglani,Creative Director,Krayon Pictures,says,A three-dimensional film gives you the visual depth. A stereoscopic film also gives a similar experience,besides the perception that the characters are closer to the viewers. It involves a lot more in-depth 3D modelling of the characters. The team at Krayon Pictures claims it had a clear idea about Delhi Safari,right from the word go. . When we took the film to international festivals,producers from big studios such as Pixar and Dreamworks told us they never thought Indian animators could think beyond stories from Indian mythology, says Anand Bhanushali,technical director at Krayon Pictures. The film has actors Govinda,Urmila Matondkar,Suniel Shetty, Boman Irani and Akshaye Khanna lending their voices to characters. It revolves around a motley crew travelling to Delhi to have their demands heard. They are on the verge of losing their homes,owing to the trees in the jungles being cut. That is the reason they head out with the parrot who knows the language of humans, adds Bhanushali. The team says that Govindas character Bajrangi,the militant monkey,and Khannas character of Alex,the parrot,are the highlights. The film will release worldwide on October 19. In addition to the film,the team will also be running a campaign involving two million children from 3,000 schools across India. They will send signed petitions,which will then be sent to the Prime Minister to raise awareness against deforestation, concludes Ahad.
