They were however cautious and to begin with, asked me to work on some fairy tales that they had rights for the Indian region to. Finally I met G L Mirchandani and H G Mirchandani who showed some interest(1970).
I left a very good job at the TOI to pursue my interest in Indian comics.
I took my idea to many publishers but in vain.Īnimation 'xpress : Why did you not publish with Indrajal comics where you were working?Īnant Pai: TOI is and was a mighty organization, it would have taken a lot of persuasion and meetings before which I could even speak to the people in charge. Besides I was also aware of the craze thanks to my job at Times' Indrajal comics. Like a flash of lightning, it stuck me that here was a way in which to inform the children of India about their own culture. There was a comic book I had read about an English boy who wanted to go to the big city of London. My nephews used to publish a small magazine called the family magazine, they used to be crazy about comics, Archies were unheard of then. On returning to Bombay, the thought still persisted in my mind. I realized that there was a need for informing the youth of India of our own culture. The next question on the Greek god Olympus was answered by all. I stopped to watch out of curiosity, a quiz was on, the question asked was "Who is the mother of Ram?" none of the 5 participants knew the answer. One fine evening in Delhi, I happened to pass by a shop which had a television on display.
I found out that kids preferred Phantom to Superman.Īnimation 'xpress : So you have been in comics from even before A.C.K? When did A.C.K begin?Īnant Pai: In 1967 Television had just begun in India on an experimental basis.
#Amar chitra katha animated series license
He then asked me if Superman would be a good license to buy and I conducted a small survey for the same. Let's take some licenses to comics and use our printing equipment" P K Roy my boss called and told me that, "Anant our machines are busy during season but they are not in use during off season. Back then I never thought I would be in animation.Īnant Pai: - I was working with the Times of India and I remember we had special graveure printing machines, Palatia machines. Bhimsain also joined in films division - we were here together for 10 yrs.īhimsain Khurana: I was fresh from Arts college in Lucknow, I used to get excited to watch drawings move. He asked me to join him as a trainee in the Cartoon Film Unit at Films Division. I remember it was for "This Our India", an animated film adapted from a book by Minoo Masani.Īctually I used to do cartoons as a hobby, I was a chemistry student, I took the giant leap from chemistry to animation after meeting Clair weeks from Disney, who served a 2 year stint at Films Division as head of the cartoon films unit. I started out by doing character design and story boards. Ram Mohan: I will complete 50 years in animation in 2006. presenting to you the conversation as it took place. Over to the three wise men now, without any more jottings. Animation 'xpress finally managed to get a date, time and location that would suit all the three!
Animation has so much to give for those who are sensitive to it.įor those who coined 'Life begins at 40!', here's food for thought, while coordinating the special meeting with the three wise men of Indian animation and comics, it came as a pleasant surprise that though all the 3 esteemed guests were beyond 75, they were as busy and perhaps more so, than the regular professional.Ī few reschedulings and CO-ordinations later.