MIFF 2020: The torch-bearers of Indian animation

A protégé of the legendary animator Ram Mohan, who passed away recently, Chetan Sharma has curated an exhibition as an homage to his Guru, and two other of his Guru’s contemporary masters, who also left for their heavenly within short spans of each other. The exhibition, titled The Torch-bearers of Indian Animation, which is dedicated to V.G. Samant and BhimSain too, is located in the basement of the NMIC building.

“We lost three giants in a matter of about 18 months, and this is my humble tribute. I am also conducting a curated master class on 02 February, in Ram Mohan Saahab’s memory, and have titled it ‘The Man Who Spoke in Pictures’, for that is what he did all his life. He used to draw all the while, and his legacy is not some futuristic pontification. Rather, it is his work, his priceless drawings. I shall be showing the attendees scanned images of these drawings, for the originals are too precious and fragile to be brought here. It will be an attempt to encapsulate 60 years of Ram Mohan’s life in about three hours.” Ram Mohan set-up the Cartoon Film Unit at FD in 1956, and worked there until 1972, before branching out on his own. Incidentally, his last film was also for FD.

Sharma, 40, who joined Ram Mohan at the age of 15 and worked at Ram Mohan Biographics for 25 years, now runs an animation studio called Animagic, along with his partner, Gayatri, for the last 23 years. A film that he made in 2004, on child’s rights, for NGO Aseema, titled Raju and I, won a National Award (Rajat Kamal for Best Animated Film) as well as the Golden Conch award for Best Animated Film, at MIFF. Sharma has two made features and six short films, besides numerous commercials. Animagic also did the titles and FX for the feature film Eklavya, which starred Amitabh Bachchan, and had a lot of effects in its narrative. However, for the last 10 years, the company does only animation, commercials and illustrations of children’s books.

“One great thing about animation is that everybody relates to it,” felt Sharma. “You literally merge into the character.” On the negative side, he regretted that many animators could not earn their livelihood from this craft, and some of them ended up running poultry farms. “After attending MIFF 2020 and interacting with FD for several weeks, I am of the opinion that a cultural renaissance is possible. Return on investment should not be the criterion, for animators give their all to their calling. They survive by through commercials and some illustrating work, but almost all animation they do is a kind of service, a charity.”

Highlighting the potential of the medium, he gave the example of Meena (1991-  ), the long-running series featuring a young girl and her pet parrot, Mithu, that Ram Mohan and a large team of international creative masters made for UNICEF. It highlighted social and gender issues and was shown across all SAARC countries, in Hindi, Urdu, Nepali, Bengali and English, first appearing on BanglaDesh TV. Ultimately, it became such a rage that BanglaDeshi election candidates asked for permission to use Meena as a mascot, for if Meena were to endorse their candidature, victory was certain. UNICEF itself extended the concept to Africa, using a character named Sara in place of Meena, for which all the basic animation was done by Ram Mohan, and African animators were trained at his studio.

Ram Mohan’s Hindi feature film credits include several animated sequences for Pati Patni Aur Woh, the title sequence for Shatranj Ke Khilari, and a sequence for Bhuvan Shome. Other assignments include Biwi O Biwi, Do aur Do Paanch and Kaamchor. Ram Mohan passed away on 11 October 2019.