Toon trek in urban jungle

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After making a great directorial debut with Kal Ho Na Ho, Nikhil Advani had to face some failure at the box office with films like Patiala House. But now, the director is pinning his hopes on his first bilingual animated film Delhi Safari for which he has got together people like Akshaye Khanna, Boman Irani, Govinda, Urmila Matondkar and Suniel Shetty.

Delhi Safari is a “Bollywood animation” film in the truest sense, as it has all the Bollywood masala. “Somewhere it also helps us communicate a message — to sensitise our actions towards animals, the environment. It simply brings to the forefront the issue of how we, in our attempt to build our own homes, destroy the homes of others (animals),” says Nikhil about the film.
The director has got support from environmentalist Bittu Sehgal. “He watched the movie and said something that makes it all worth it. He said, ‘This film has and will achieve all that I have tried to do in all these years’,” he says ecstatically.
The team of the film has also initiated a signature postcard campaign along with Peta, Aptech and Bittu Sehgal, to highlight the plight of the animal population in our country.
And while Nikhil is happy with the film now, he says it was tough work. It took him almost five years to bring in the best technology for the film. “Animation isn’t like shooting live action where you have the luxury of another take, but the animators at Krayon gave me the opportunity to do so. We worked on the character sketches. Through the dubbing process, we tried and captured the nuances and expressions of our actors, as they lent their voice to bring the characters to life. We’ve reworked scenes, gone through a vigorous editing routine and have ultimately achieved our goal of creating a good animation film,” he shares.
Animation is in its infancy stage in India and the road has been more than difficult, he says. “It’s been an uphill task getting the film out there, but I am thrilled that we now have the opportunity to make good quality animation films. Once we start establishing and investing further in the animation industry, we will definitely have a never-ending list of animation series,” he adds.
Next the team is planning a screening in Ranthambore.