With over 15 years of experience in the AVGC industry, AnimationXpress introduced the second edition of AVGC 40 Under 40 awards in association with Autodesk. Through this initiative, our mission is to recognise and honour the incredible talents that have made outstanding contributions to the Indian AVGC ecosystem, all under the age of 40.
The AVGC 40 Under 40 awards take place in person at Desi Toons, a one-day conclave within Indiajoy at HICC Hyderabad. IndiaJoy is one of the largest expos to celebrate gaming and digital media and entertainment content and is taking place from 31 October to 4 November 2023.
The AVGC 40 Under 40 initiative encompasses the entire spectrum of the AVGC universe. We celebrate not only the artists but also the technical wizards, innovators, and storytellers who breathe life into this world. AVGC 40 Under 40 nominees and winners have made significant contributions to the Indian AVGC industry, including but not limited to animation, visual effects, gaming, and comics.
The awards began with a keynote by AnimationXpress chairman, founder and editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari. This was followed by a keynote from Autodesk India & SAARC technical solutions manager – M&E Samit Shetty.
Following this was a presentation by Citrus Ink Studio founder/CEO Vrinda Sood, Charuvi Design Labs founder & creative director Charuvi Agrawal and PhantomFX Studio head of CG Anish Sreedhar.
The AVGC 40 Under 40 jury comprised of Wanvari; Punnaryug Artvision founder and FICCI AVGC forum chairman Ashish Kulkarni; Gamitronics CEO Rajat Ojha; Bot VFX founder & CEO Hitesh Shah; VFX supervisor Srinivas Mohan; Vimanika Comics, Kalapani Comics, Vimanika Studios, Merchandise CEO & founder Karan Vir Arora; Kini Studios founder Abhijeet Kini.
Below is the full list of winners of AVGC 40 Under 40 2023:
Amar Pawale – Animation
Aniruddho Chakraborty – Comics
Anish Sreedhar – VFX
Anuj Kumar
Aparna Sundaresan – Comics
Arjun Sarode
Aswin Manikandan – Animation
Brian D’Costa – Animation
Deepak Gurijala – Gaming
Deepak Sharma – Comics
Dilip Arjun – Gaming
Diya Gambhir – Animation
Dr Rajeev Tamhankar – Comics
Dr Rajeev Rastogi – VFX
Druhin Mukherjee – Gaming
Dushyant Kumar Kashyap – VFX
Gaurav Pati – Animation
Gnana Shekar – Gaming
Goverdhan Gosavi – Gaming
Hemant Kumar – Comics
Jaswinder Singh Sohal – Gaming
Lalit Kumar Sharma – Comics
Mario Royston Gaming
Muktesh Kathare – Animation
Nikhil Chandran – Gaming
Nupur Sharma – Animation
Pooja Amravanshi – VFX
Praveen Fernandes – Animation
Prinita Gautam – Animation
Rakesh Venugopalan – VFX
Ram Dhumne – Animation
Roshni Sehgal
Sania Shaikh – Animation
Shashank Kulkarni – Animation
Shivam Dhoot – Gaming
Sourabh Kumar – Animation
Tanvi Vijaykumar Mestry – Animation
Vinita Bachani – Animation
Vivek Nag – Animation
Vrinda Sood
Yash Thakur – Animation