The face of Indian animation has undoubtedly been the Chhota Bheem franchise which has won the hearts of both the young and old. And as we know, the franchise is coming back with a third feature called Chhota Bheem: Himalayan Adventure that’s set to release on 8 January 2016. And we are sure to expect an extravaganza of creativity.
Says Green Gold Animation Founder & Managing Director Rajiv Chilaka: “This film is by far the most complete film in terms of storytelling, script, character, gags, humour, costumes, creativity, additions, unique approach, innovation and lastly pure fun.”
The Chhota Bheem film franchise has been marked by oodles of adventure and action. So what sets this film apart? Says Himalayan Adventure scriptwriter Teja Pratap: “You have always seen Chhota Bheem fighting or probably even doing Kung Fu, but in this film, you will see him skiing and adventuring in the Himalayan terrain. The story unfolds the presence of a mysterious villain, and all the characters are totally revamped in terms of appearance and character development. So, everything is new in this film!”
Adds Rajiv: “The fact that Chhota Bheem is seen in full clothing, in fact extra woollen clothes conveys the risk that we have taken to recreate an image that is already well-imprinted in the minds of the audience.”
Well, storytelling is the essence of every film and the new release too concentrates on the basic funda of ‘good overcomes evil’ but with a lot of adventure and mysterious revelations.
“Music is something that can make you feel the emotions; it can make you cry! We have used fresh music that brings alive the feel of the entire mountainous terrain and the characteristics of every character including the villain,” emphasises Rajiv.
“The film has two songs,” adds Teja. “One is based on Chhota Bheem and his friends enjoying their adventure in the snow and the other is based entirely on the villain displaying his features and negative role.”
Also, professional choreographers from the industry were roped in to set the dance movements for the songs which were then adapted to the characters.
Skiing was the most challenging part of the entire film as Green Gold team spared no efforts to ensure that sequences involving this sport appear true and realistic.
“We have actually skiied in order to understand how we could produce it on screen. And it is not easy at the start; we all fell and we all learned how to do it the right way,” comments Teja.
“The animators did not know what skiing is all about so we had to explain to them the angle while skiing, the posture and the visual appearance in detail to make it look realistic on screen,” reveals Rajiv.
Green Gold known for its 2D style, has experimented with 3D CGI in this film as well. Even as the characters have been created in 2D, the backgrounds are in 3D. The emphasis on CGI is probably what led to the delay in the film’s release, but fortunately it is releasing in winter rather than on its earlier summer 2015 release date.
“Creating the backgrounds of the Himalayan terrain, environment effects, the snow clad region and snow fall was a task. Every background was different so we had to animate each one of them; every frame had to be shot and all this took a lot of time,” highlights Rajiv.
Although the production and post-production were delayed, the Green Gold team managed to keep its pipeline under control without a steep hike in costs even while maintaining the near perfect quality of animation.
In spite of the earlier two Chhota Bheem films not getting a good enough RoI, Rajiv is quite optimistic about Himalayan Adventure. “Even if we don’t make a high profit, at least we would have tried to do something way different in the animation industry,” he says, his chest swelling with pride. “We have used the best of technology and talent to highlight the standard of India to the entire world. This in itself is a great success.”
With a team of more than 300 artists having worked on the film, Chhota Bheem: Himalayan Adventure is set to entertain audience all round the globe with an opening in 500 screens.