One has seen Chhota Bheem, the iconic Indian animation character in his earlier two avatars - in ‘Curse of Damyaan’ set around Sonapur and ‘Throne of Bali’. His creators are now ready with a hat-trick and for the first time a round, roly-poly, fun-filled Bheem will be seen wearing clothes from head to toe.
‘Himalayan Adventure’ from the city-based Green Gold Animation that took the entertainment by storm with Chhota Bheem, is the third in the series on the 7 year-long journey of the company and is all set to be projected on about 500 screens across India on January 8. It took a team of 325 techies 18 months to make this approximately 100 minute animation film, with the project estimated at a cost of Rs. 6 crore, said the company’s Founder & CEO, Rajiv Chilaka.
”We have taken a lot of care to design his gear specially because it is set in the Himalayas and also because the biting cold of the winter demands woollen gear. While the snow-clad settings are a photographer’s delight, it became a challenge for us to recreate the same background using 2 and 3 dimensional imaging technology and a lot of computer graphics,” he said at Monday’s announcement of the release date, flanked by COO Samir Jain and Chief Strategy Officer Srinivas Chilakalapudi.
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Mr. Jain stated that the film’s promotion over a 40-day period across the country had generated excitement in children and adults alike. “The Chhota Bheem game on Google Play, released a fortnight ago has already been downloaded by about 5 lakh people and is a record in the history of Indian animation,” he said, even as Mr. Rajiv exuded confidence about ‘Himalayan Adventure’ making it big at the Box Office.
“We have made our hero dance like never before with his friends and playing, skiing on the snow-clad slopes. Also, we have created a song exclusively for the villain Hidimbak,” said Mr. Rajiv, when asked as to how the 3rd Chhota Bheem film was different from the first two in the series. He also added that the film had more of ‘gags’ (comedy sequences) tailored for the older people who would invariably accompany the children for the movie.