Move over Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom, and Jerry, there are new characters in town and they are all in 3D. Meet Twinkle, the rag doll, Pupi, the puppy, and Kathu, the cat. They are fast becoming household names as children watch them almost religiously on CDs and DVDs. Creations of Hibiscus Digital Media, a company that creates digital contents for the web, multimedia and broadcast media, Twinkle, Pupi and Kathu, don't speak English; they speak Malayalam. And therein lies the secret of Hibiscus' success.
Says Madhu K.S., managing director of Hibiscus, animatedly: “There are tonnes of English cartoons. In fact, most of us grow up on them. I found this strange, however, as English is not our mother tongue.”
Hibiscus' entry into the animation industry started with Twinkle, Twinkle, a cartoon show on Kairali TV. Twinkle was the anchor of the show, which was divided into three segments – cinematic dance, a story from the Panchatantra and a section for Malayalam nursery rhymes.
3D animated TV show
“It was perhaps the first 3D animated TV show in Malayalam for kids. We wanted a show that would appeal to children and their imagination and so we decided on a doll as the host for the show. Tales from the Panchatantra and nursery rhymes not only appealed to children, it also familiarised children with their culture and surroundings. Why look to the West when we have such a rich heritage and a wealth of tales in India?” says Madhu.
The excellent response to the show motivated Hibiscus to turn the content of Twinkle Twinkle into a CD. Twinkle Twinkle was renamed Manchadi.
With no experience in marketing, the team at Hibiscus started showcasing Manchadi at various consumer exhibitions and fairs. “Customers normally judge a CD by its cover as there is no way to see the content, but we showed the content during consumer fairs. People bought it only after viewing it and liking it,” laughs Madhu as he recalls the early days.
Manchadi , however, became a hit and Manchadi II and Manchadi III came out in quick succession.
A decision to inculcate and popularise the scientific temparament among children in a fun way led to the birth of Pupi . The star of the Pupi series is Pupi, the curious puppy. He asks questions about everyday occurrences in our lives that inadvertently lead to children picking up scientific facts.
The latest in the Hibiscus kitty is Kathu . There are five stories in this CD. Kathu, the lovable kitten, is the star of this soon-to-be series of CDs that revolve around family values. “ Kathu is our Onam 2011 gift to children.” In Kathu , apart from moral tales, one can see a glimpse of the Kerala of yesteryear. “The Kerala I grew up in. We have birds such as the magpie robin, kingfisher and golden oriole, insects and animals. As foliage, we have trees such as mango, cashew, and jackfruit and so on.”
Like the other CDs, Kathu too is selling like hot cakes. Ask him the reason behind the range of animation from Hibiscus becoming hits and Madhu replies that non-violence, catchy songs and a Malayalam that children can identify with are what has captured the children's' hearts.
“Many English cartoons have some form of violence to generate laughs; there is none in our cartoons. We use day-to-day Malayalam in our CDs and there is no profanity in our works, which parents appreciate. The lyrics of the songs are easy to remember and the tunes are hummable.”
Madhu admits that he first runs the cartoons by his children, Anavadya and Abhikamya, and his wife, Suja C.R.. “Only if they like it do I have the confidence to release it in the market. Anavadya, who is in class seven, grew up with Manchadi and Pupi , while, Abhikamya, who is in play school is into Kathu ,” says Madhu.
An alumnus of College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, Madhu graduated as a product designer. “I actually wanted to pursue a career in Fine Arts as I loved to paint. My parents however, wanted me to pursue engineering.”
Branching out
So, does he still paint? “No, there's hardly any time,” says the self-confessed workaholic. While a series of CDs on Kathu will be coming out shortly, Madhu is ecstatic that Hibiscus' list of CDs will be available in all South Indian languages, Hindi, and English too. “In fact Haiku Media, has already dubbed a couple of Manchadi 's CDs into Tamil. It is called Patam Puchi .”
Madhu is also on a high as Manchadi Volume 1 is now available as an App for iphones, ipods, and ipads... and on Android Marketplace (for mobile and other handheld devices running on Android platform). “Other titles will follow.”
Meet the team
Hibiscus started off with five young men joining forces. Two left the team and now there are three – Sunilkumar B., Deepuprasad A.N. and Madhu, himself. Team work plays an integral part in Hibiscus' success, says Madhu. And while everyone at Hibiscus has a role to play, a core team of six members are the brains of the group. “Sunil does the project co-ordination and designing, Deepu who does the technical direction is also in charge of multimedia design, Manu K.S., is the head of creative content and does the scripting, while Jacob Oommen and Rajesh Amal are the animation directors. I direct the show.”
