As animation in India remains largely influenced by international storylines and characters, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Vaibhav Kumaresh is introducing a homegrown story, grounded in folk traditions and modern life, with Return of the Jungle having released on May 29.
The animated feature, which has been in production for nearly 15 years, follows a group of junior school friends experiencing everyday school and life challenges. Their problems may appear small to adults, but to them, they feel enormous. Through inspiring stories of the jungle, told to them by an old man, the children learn lessons that help them deal with their struggles.
Kumaresh says the inspiration for the film came from the stories he grew up with — the Panchatantra, Jataka Tales, and Hitopadesha. “These stories made a very deep mark on me because they were never merely entertainment,” Kumaresh says, adding, “They always had valuable life lessons.”
According to him, those values are relevant even today. “In fact, we probably need these stories even more now,” he adds. The filmmaker felt there was a growing disconnect between younger generations and Indian folk storytelling traditions, which pushed him to bring them to life through animation.
Kumaresh believes Return of the Jungle offers audiences something rarely seen in Indian animation — it presents a portrayal of “everyday India” in all its familiarity and richness. The film features diverse musical influences, including bhajans, qawwalis, classical music, and folk-inspired sounds.
A long journey
While the film may appear to target children, Kumaresh points out it is meant for the entire family. “Animation is not just for kids,” he says. “A parent or grandparent will be equally entertained [by this film]. In fact, it is important that families watch this film together.”
Kumaresh is known for creating iconic animations such as Lamput (2016) and the popular Vodafone ZooZoo advertisements. He says he does not create content for a particular demographic. “For me, I am the target audience,” he explains. “If I like something and I’m excited by the storytelling, then I share it with the audience.”
However, the making of Return of the Jungle was anything but easy. Kumaresh recalls that when work on the film began around 2008, Indian animated films were struggling commercially, making it difficult to find investors willing to back an original animation feature.
“The biggest challenge was that nobody wanted to fund an animation film,” he says. Unlike global animation studios, Kumaresh’s team consisted of only 18 members. To keep the project alive, the studio relied on earnings from commercial work, advertisements, and television projects.
“All our client projects became our bread and butter,” he says. “We would save that money and invest it into making our film.”
Apart from funding, understanding the film ecosystem itself was another major learning curve. Kumaresh and his creative producer spent nearly two-and-a-half years studying film distribution, marketing, exhibition systems, and advertising requirements before the film could move ahead toward release.
Bringing culture to screens
Over the years, the script underwent minor changes, while the core spirit of the story remained intact. “There were tweaks and explorations, but the heart of the film never changed,” he says.
The filmmaker believes Indian audiences deserve stories rooted in their own culture, especially at a time when Hollywood franchises, Japanese anime, and Korean animation are dominating the screens. “If we don’t share our own stories with audiences, people will slowly lose touch with our culture,” he adds.
Reflecting on the Indian animation industry today, Kumaresh feels the country excels at outsourced production work for international films but invests far less in telling original Indian stories. “We are creating world-class work for foreign projects, but these are not our stories,” he says.
For aspiring animators, his advice is simple: clarity matters more than chasing jobs. “People need to know what they truly love doing and what they don’t enjoy doing,” he says. “If you only focus on getting a job, you will keep doing jobs. Growth comes when you follow what genuinely excites you.”