Bhumenjoy Konsam at work

Imphal, May 25: It could very well be the Northeast’s answer to the Hollywood blockbuster Shrek.

A young Manipuri visual designer is coming out with the region’s first ever animation film, based on a popular folktale, Kabui Kei-oiba (The man who turns into a tiger), which highlights how dangerous power is in the hands of ignorant people.

Bhumenjoy Konsam, the Pune-based visual designer from Imphal, said the film would have all the ingredients to entertain not only children but adults too.

He has not decided whether the film will be released in Mumbai or Imphal but given the scale of the work, Konsam is also considering sending it to foreign film distributors as animation films are the latest craze in the West.

The film is a violence filled romantic story.

A man with god-given powers turns himself into a ferocious tiger, but cannot re-assume his human form. Kabui Kei-oiba strikes terror and finally abducts Thabaton, a beautiful sister of seven brothers to make her his wife. Thabaton’s lover rescues her and finally kills the man-turned-tiger.

The director has used both Manipuri and English in the film.

Konsam, in his thirties, launched his dream project six years ago while working with a Pune-based animation firm.

Konsam was also the creative director of Akbar and Birbal, a popular cartoon serial.

He is now working as a senior manager, visual design, at Pune’s Clear Point Learning Systems, an e-learning centre.

“I have completed most of the work and the project will be ready soon,” Konsam told this correspondent over phone from Pune. “Now I will compose the music,” he said. Konsam is currently busy doing research on costumes for the characters. Unlike Hollywood’s 3-D animation films, Konsam’s is a 2-D film, but he is using the Vector format, a resolution-free software.

The 90-minute film could be released in digital format. “I don’t have the budget for a big screen film,” Konsam said. “Though it is a 2D film it is almost as good as 3D Hollywood flick Shrek,” said Keisam Gunadhar, a web developer who has made the promos of the film.

Konsam has the talent, but lacks the resources. “In Hollywood, a whole studio is involved in the process of producing one animation film. Here I am a one-man army, who uses ready-made techniques,” he said.