On the Oscar morning in February, an office in Madhapur burst into celebration as they saw their hardwork bear fruition through the award for best visual effects given out to Life of Pi. Rhythm & Hues (R&H), a Los Angeles based animation company had its folks here in Hyderabad and Mumbai work on the film, naturally leading to a very proud team moment when the Oscar was announced.
However, another office, not far away from R&H, also celebrated the win. The Hyderabad branch of Aide-et-Action (AEA), an international non governmental organisation were also proud for among the winning team was their volunteer Shuchi Singhal. The lead animator at the Hyderabad office of R&H, this 28 year old became the practical example of their goal to see women empowerment at its optimum.
Being a part of a profession that has largely been a male domain, Shuchi became interested in animation while pursuing her bachelors in Fine Arts at Delhi. Hailing from Jaipur, Rajasthan, she began bursting a growing passion for communicating through motions which led her to pursue a part time course in animation at the Maya Academy Of Advanced Cinimatics. Later, an internship at the R&H studio in Delhi turned into her becoming the team lead for the post production work on the Life of Pi.
Here in Hyderabad for the past five years, Shuchi soon became attached to the AEA. In her four years with them, she has contributed to their women empowerment projects through her voluntary work.
Giving a choice to female animators, she says, “Anyone can learn the technology behind animation. In today’s technological world, women can learn animation from home and earn through free lance work. But, how you observe things and imagine them is important. If a woman wants to achieve a goal in life, there are means to it.” Keeping in line with her voluntary work, she plans to conduct training session in animation at the organisation. But the bottomline she feels is that “skill and passion are more important than money”.
Started in 1981 in France and India, AEA is spread over 28 countries and has been trying to affect change through education.