Mani Ratnam is a man who strives for technical perfection. The auteur’s latest is the romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani, starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen.
But what about ‘Mumbai 2.0’, the awesome game that was developed by Aadi (Dulquer)? Remember the daring hero being chased around the dark underbelly and flashy streets of Mumbai? Well, the game was designed by Studio Dreamcatcher, a 2D animation studio based in the capital city.
Studio Dreamcatcher is run by Kishore Mohan, Roshan K., Sinu Chandrasenan and Danny Kurian, with funding from American Healthcare Technologies.
Wind the clock to 2014. The big release was Aashiq Abu’s Gangster . Although the movie was panned by critics, a 10-minute animation segment by Studio Dreamcatcher in the beginning of the movie won kudos for its slick presentation. “That was the big break,” says Kishore Mohan, creative director of the Studio. That short film paved the way for their big project with Mani Ratnam.
After the initial brainstorming sessions involving Mani Ratnam’s Madras Talkies, Studio Dreamcatcher, Studio Kokachi and Firefly Creative Studio, it was decided that there would be two versions of the game – a 2D prototype that viewers see in the first post-interval scene, and a 3D 2.0 version. “Studio Dreamcatcher is an out and out 2D studio and our involvement was predominantly in the 2D prototype and the end credit segments. We also did character designs, story board and animatics for the 3D sequences,” says Kishore.
He adds: “Mani sir is a true professional. He has a clear vision as to how his movie should look. Yet he is completely open to suggestions. Our first few meetings established a comfortable chemistry. Once he was convinced that we understood the visual language he was aiming for, he gave us a lot of freedom with our scenes.”
Kishore’s favourite, however, is ‘Cocoman’. “It has given me a certain sense of creative fulfilment. It is our flagship project,” says Kishore. (Watch the sneak peak of the series on their YouTube channel)
Cocoman is a character deeply rooted in the popular idiom of Kerala. He is Kerala’s very own lungi-clad superhero – a toddy tapper during the day and a caped crusader at night. Kishore explains, “Cocoman was one of the characters I created for a graphic novel we published in 2012. Though we all took part in the initial development phase, it was two of our team members, Sinu and Abhilash Narayanan, that got him to look the way he does right now.”
After Gangsters and the Kochi-Muziris Biennale signature film, can we expect something bigger from this team, say a full length animation movie?
With a big smile, Kishore replies, “Aashiq is a joy to work with. The amount of creative freedom he gives to the artists makes me want to jump in at any opportunity to work with him.” But for now, they are busy with another big-banner project – in fact their longest project so far. It’s a little too early to talk about it though, says Kishore.
