A Dream Fulfilled

Ruchi Narain, the writer of ‘Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi’, had one “Khwaish” (desire) of her own – to be able to make a completely entertaining animation film based on Indian character. With ‘Hanuman Da Damdaar’ set to release in June, she seems to have fulfilled her dream

Ruchi Narain is a screenwriter, director, who had gained critical acclaim in India and at the film festivals across the world for writing a film ‘Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi’ – a story of three youngsters during the time of emergency that released in 2005, and also for her directorial venture, ‘KAL – Yesterday and Tomorrow’.

It was during this time itself that the idea of directing an animation film began. And over the years even as Ruchi was working as a part of R.A.T production along with partners and friends Taher Shabbir and Ashutosh Rana, and doing other projects, her eyes were set on making an animation film and the dream became a reality.

Her film produced under the banner R.A.T films ‘Hanuman Da Damdaar’ is set to release in June, and in addition to being a fun-filled complete entertainer, the film boasts of top Bollywood actors, who have lent their voices, making it a star-studded project.

“It couldn’t have been any bigger,” shares the young producer, director of the film in an exclusive interview.

Why did you think of an animation film in the first place?
What I wanted to do is create a cinematic experience filled pure entertainment and fun. We grew up watching films like ‘Jungle Book’, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, ‘ Finding Nemo’ that were not just fun, but there was something we learnt in an entertaining way. I wanted to do something like that for India. It was a fun journey. And after we released the trailer, the positive feedback that we got from people of all age groups has been encouraging.

What’s the difference between making a full-length feature film and an animation film?
The work one needs to put in for an animation film is 20 times more than the regular feature film. Here, every single shot is deliberate. You have to create everything in the film including the background. Every character’s dubbing, expression, body language, etc, need to be looked into. One scene has to be created three times, and it is mostly upto the director. There are a lot of people involved in making shot work in a feature film unlike in animation. Every second spent in making the animation film is pure joy. You can really touch the limits of imagination. Here, you get to create the colours in any way you like. It doesn’t have to be the way it is in reality, and that is fun to do.

Do you think Indian audience is ready for newer concepts, fantasy animation?
Now, audiences have become super exposed to a lot of mainstream and world cinema. They are thirsting for newer concepts. Time is right for looking out of the box, which is why I am working on this. Even as an audience I am dying to watch something like this. And India has many such stories to tell.

At this time in your career, don’t you think a feature film would have given you a better exposure?
Honestly, nothing else could have been this big. It is the amazing star cast (who gave their voice over) which made it as big as it could be. For me it is a dream. I have not planned anything strategically. I just wanted to do things I believed in. It was something I was really interested in. And by far, this has been one of my best writings.

What is your take away from working with big stars on the project?
I learnt one important lesson. There is a reason these people are such big stars, it is not just their attitude, but also in terms acting talent. Give them a brief, and they run with it, and add so much more than I would’ve expected. Mainstream actors know how to reach and connect to the audience. Javed Saab was the first one I approached. Our epics are all about narration. Ramayana was narrated by Sage Valmiki. I thought that there is no other narrator as good as Javed Akhtar in modern times. When he talks everyone else listens.

Who has done the animation for the film?
The animation was done by a studio, ‘Dreamz’ based out of Pune, and Hyderabad. They were very good and accommodative towards a filmmaker like me, who was working on an animation film for the first time. I just had a lot of good people on the film.

What are your future plans?
My next film is live action. But, we are definitely going to have an animation film put on the process as well, since it takes a lot of time.