CHENNAI: Touted to be India’s foremost classical 2D animator, Chetan Sharma got into animation when he was 15. A self-taught artist, he started his studio Animagic in 1997, and has produced illustrations and animation for books, TV commercials, full-length feature films and more since then. The animation film Raju and I won him the National Award as the Best Animator in 2005. Chetan will be in the city for The Artist’s lab, a workshop by Karadi Tales, and we get to know more about the growth of animation in India and his works. Excerpts follow:
Do you consciously choose Indian-themed projects in animation?
When we started, animation was just beginning to grow in India. We wanted to tell our own stories. In our journey, we have taken mythology, social awareness projects and also a few commercial and live-action works. And yes, our stories take Indian mythological heroes and Indian characters.
You have worked on animation films, books, commercials etc. What are the nuances of each?
Everything is an extension of the natural impulse to draw and tell stories. In a book, the characters must have a sense of how each moves, talks and behaves. In an animation film, the audiences perceive more than what you just tell them — so each detail has to be well thought of. Storyboards for films are a whole other thing — it saves money and time on the shooting spot. Another step ahead is the mood board, like in Hollywood, where they experiment with what a scene feels like, before production.
Which medium do you prefer to work on — books or movies?
Making picture books and comics will always be my first love (laughs). Picture books give an immediate satisfaction. In this case, an illustrator is a co-author. When I was a kid, I would never read but just look at the pictures! Picture books create a whole visual world in them, and it is successful when kids want to read the same book over and over again, as they get the story from the pictures. Films take longer, and there are so many people involved in the process; sometimes it will improve your efforts, but at times, dilute it too. I have refused more films than I have done. I didn’t want to do them because that’s not where my happiness lies.
The graphic stylisation in Raju and I was very different from the rest of your films...
Yes, the intent was to create an impressionistic style. Like for instance, every building is not illuminated and the background is not very clean - because that is not the world we live in. The story is based in urban Mumbai. It was not meant to have cute faces and clean animation. The film examines the problems of underprivileged children, from the point of view of a 12-year-old. Through the narrative, the film focuses on highlighting the right to education. The 30-minute film took us two-and-a-half years to make it.
How can animation films make a difference?
It’s a simple way of imbuing children with good values. When kids watch things, they like to play characters from what they watch. For instance, in the film Swami Ayappa, the boy Ayappan is shown to be very respectful of elders — and when kids watch and impersonate Ayappan, they become Ayappan, right? That’s what we want to do! We want kids to unconsciously take up these characteristics. I believe that stories are spiritual at some level — whether Harry Potter or Lord of the rings — characters become inspirational.
Would you advise illustration as a career path for children?
In most of my children’s workshops, I try to make them go back home and draw more. I try to tell parents to not curb their flow. That’s how I learned myself. A lot of parents ask me if their child can make a living out of it, but that’s not the point! He is just kid now…forget the money and let him follow his heart!
Tell us more about your workshop for adults in Chennai.
I will be sharing whatever I know about illustration and animation, and it is up to the future storytellers and animators to take it forward. I have done this workshop for children, but this is the first time I’m doing it for adults.
The Artist’s Lab, an illustration workshop with Chetan Sharma, will be held from Jan 11-13, from 10 am to 1 pm at Neelankarai. Register at- Karaditales.com/illustration-workshop