Kids are the future of our country. And Animator – Educator Tehzeeb Khurana is making sure that animation is a part of it. A practicing animator since ten years, Tehzeeb who supervises a lot of projects at 2nz Animation, also runs Toon Club where she teaches animation to kids on weekends.
Along with husband Kireet Khurana and Father in Law Bhimsain, Tehzeeb belongs to probably one of the first families of Indian animation. Speaking to Animation Xpress.com about her teaching initiative shared, “There are two things I love doing, animation and teaching children, Toon Club is my dream venture where I can do both, at the same time”
‘Toon Club‘ the kids animation education outfit has three courses offered for children, these are Fundamental, Mixed Media and Toon Shorts. Mixed Media Program is held every Saturday, with three batches of six kids each. “This student teacher ratio is kept 1:6 so as to give proper attention to each student” added Khurana.
Tehzeeb keeps her approach of teaching very practical. “I try and make the kids do different activities which helps them learn all about animation. We use basic things like Wikki sticks, beads, clay and many more objects to clearly understand the fundamentals of animation. This helps the kids to learn a lot. I also tell them about the history of animation as it is important for them to know how it started” she added.
And while practicing professionals as well as post grad students might struggle to find good animation faculty, Toon Club has a steady stream of visitors from then industry right from Bhimsain to Vaibhav Kumaresh.
Giving her take on the current growth that the Indian animation Industry is witnessing, the animator-educator shared that while the growth and increasing awareness of the animation industry made her glad, what made her wary was that in the big rush for commercial gain. A lot many ventures are purely focusing on the commercial aspect of animation, sometimes at the cost of qualitative growth.
“The quality of our content and animation needs to improve and I don‘t see it happening the way it should” she adds.
On being asked about her future plans, Tehzeeb remarked “Abroad, animation training starts at a young age and its about time we recognize that and follow the same approach if we are to groom great animators in this country.”
Now if only there were more people like Tehzeeb in Indian Animation!