26 August will see the much awaited theatrical release of ZEE Telefilms' Bhaggmati - The Queen of Fortunes. The live action cum animated historical with a run time of 160 minutes features around 80 minutes of animation. A couple of months later Sahara Percept's fully animated 2D feature Hanuman is all set to storm Indian cinescreens. In a span of 2 months, Indian audiences which have never been exposed to indegeniously created animation on the big screen (Pentamedia's Buddha had a minimalist release) will have not one but two animated features to watch.

Even though it is too early to predict, tracking and analyzing this phenomenon is going to be very interesting. For starters lets just dwell upon the 2 features.

Directed by Major Ashok Kaul who's earlier movies include the award winning Param Vir Chakra, Bhaggmati... is a live action cum animation historical with a live action cast featuring Milind Soman, Tabu & Hema Malini. The Bhaggmati soundtrack featuring music by Vishal Bharadwaj and lyrics by Ravindra Jain was recently released by Universal.

According to the makers, the animation has been used as a form of narration to unleash the story and the stars are the animated characters. Stylistically and narrationwise the movie keeps flowing in and out from live action into animation and vice versa.

The animation for Bhagmati was done entirely at ZICA (Zee Institute of Creative Arts) with the total unit size ranging between 120 to 250 artists as the production schedules demanded.

Speaking to Animation 'xpress, Major Ashok Kaul commented," This is a film made from heart and soul. It is a rare conference of commitment and creativity. I haven't made my animated characters jump and skip across the screen, but have given them an elegance, charm and emotion that they convey through their performance"

The film is a love story about the Prince of Hyderabad, Quli Kutub Shah (Milind Soman) who falls in love with the beautiful dancer Bhaggmati played by Tabu.

*Bhagmati, according to legends that abound, was a dancer and devotee of Shiva. Prince Quli Qutb Shah once happened to see the beautiful Bhaggmati while returning from a shikaar and fell in love with her at first sight.

She was a Hindu and a commoner by birth so his father, the king disapproved of the match. When the prince was prevented from meeting his beloved and kept under house arrest he crossed the barriers in his fort, swam across the Moussi river on a stormy night to keep his promise to Bhagmati.

After seeing this the king not only gave him permission to meet Bhagmati but also built a bridge across the river for the prince s safe journey to the other end. The prince later married her. It is even said that the prince named his city Bhagyanagar -which was later changed to modern-day Hyderabad.

The release strategy involves nearly 100 prints across the country with distribution deals already in place. The overseas rights are being negotiated currently and Bhaggmati should make it to International screens a week after its India release. ZTL has also lined up a grand premiere for Bhaggmati at Mumbai's FAME ADLABS. Additionally there will be at least a 6 month window between the theatrical and TV release for Bhaggmati...

Producer ZTL (Zee Telefilms) is a mammoth media player and the movie is assuredly going to be given huge presence across all media including Television, Print and Outdoor.

All in all Bhaggmati is about a dramatic story, a historical piece laden with visual splendour and Indian culture. The prospect of viewing the grand sets and culture of 400 years ago in live action as well as animation seems to be Bhaggmati's USP besides also the conflict in its story and the performance of the leads.

Hanuman
While ZTL's Bhaggmati is a historical, the Sahara Percept produced Silvertoons created Hanuman is a mythological.

The story, subject matter and lead protagonist in Hanuman are part of the day to day lives of a majority of Indians, add to that the fascinating medium of animation and it makes the movie's box office potential very strong.

It instantly dawns upon one that people would love to be told a story they already know and like albeit in a different visual style and medium, helping them experience the story they love in yet another way.

7 years in the making (start & stop), the actual production time for the V G Samant directed Hanuman was 26 months. A team of around 160 artists worked on the feature.

Says director V G Samant who is a veteran animator," We ensured that Indian values, tradition and culture were communicated through each frame of Hanuman. 60% of the movie is about his childhood, while the rest deals with his grown up years"

If Bhaggmati promises a historical love story, artistry and visual splendor, Hanuman promises a lot of charm coupled with some good amount of action and a storyline thats revered by audiences.

Sahara One Motion Pictures and Percept Picture Company have planned a big amount of marketing and media for Hanuman with the release timed around Dussera. As of now, the film company hasn't disclosed its marketing plans for Hanuman, but a big thrust is expected soon.

Both Bhaggmati... and Hanuman are primarily Indian stories, both have been pioneering efforts hence taking long in the production, each of the features is backed by a large Indian media mammoth (Bhaggmati by Zee and Hnauman by Sahara), both have animation completely done in India and both have a lot running on them as they release within a span of 3 months from each other.

The movies do not compete with each other, rather the success of one could boost the chances of the other and vice a versa as animation has this big chance to enter into the Indian mainstream.

The waiting game is on!