In the battle between the Kauravas and the Pandavas for dominance over Hastinapur, Bengal has emerged victorious. We are talking about Kurukshetra, the animated film produced by Calcutta’s renowned HiTech Animation Studio, which ruled Netflix, trending on #1 till early this week, since its launch earlier this month.

The animated film’s placement on a big streaming platform underscores the pool of talent that Bengal possesses, and it also raises hope for the state to emerge as the centre for the production of high-quality animation, VFX, and digital content creation in India.

The 18-part Netflix series, written and directed by the father-son duo Kaushik and Ujaan Ganguly, is currently streaming on the OTT platform in 190 countries. Gulzar’s lyrics and voiceover lends charisma to Kurukshetra. The project, that was taken up two years ago, employed around 600 artists who have delivered a project that can be watched by audiences globally. Making it more inclusive, the makers have ensured it includes subtitles in 34 languages and, most importantly, a Hindi audio description track for visually-impaired viewers.

Ujaan Ganguly

A chat with Subrata Roy, managing director, and Anurag Chirimar, director of HiTech Animation Studio.

It’s a matter of great pride that an animation film, produced in Bengal, is streaming on Netflix.

Subrata Roy: Yes, it is a matter of great pride for Bengal for a lot of reasons. Only two studios have produced content for Netflix from India — Hyderabad-based Green Gold Animation and us, HiTech Animation Studio from Calcutta. This is the first series for an elderly audience, and for the last 10 days it was at number one. The factor to be proud of is that a Calcutta-based studio has made something for 190 countries with 500-plus artists working on this series.

HiTech has been producing animation content for kids for a long time. What led you to making an animation film for adults?

Anurag Chirimar: It all started two years ago. Yes, it is true that we have been making projects for children, but we always push our boundaries in terms of content. Hence, the idea of making something for adults came to mind. Japanese animation has taken the world by storm, and India has also been creating a lot of similar content. Animation has a legacy and so does mythology. India has a rich culture of mythology with two big epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata) and we thought of presenting the story of the Mahabharata to the audience. Again, we wanted to have a novelty factor and choose a pivot point to tell the story. Our endeavour was to bring animation to mainstream viewing.

The trailer showcases a spectacular series....

Chirimar: We ensured the best of talents were on board, as every aspect of Kurukshetra was extremely important to us. Given that it is anchored on the Kurukshetra (battle), action was pivotal. So, we would first do action choreography on storyboard and then convert it into animation. The process was a long and tedious one but we had the best hands working on it.

Tell us about getting Gulzar and Kaushik and Ujaan Ganguly on board...

Roy: Gulzar did the song’s lyrics, plus has a voice-over at the beginning. He was not just part of it ceremonially...he read the script that was sent to him, written by Ujaan and Kaushik Ganguly. Kaushikda and Ujaan worked as a team for Kurukshetra... as a writer and director. We deliberately got them on board because we wanted to use Bengal’s talent. We were given an option to use artists from Mumbai, but we chose them, as they are so talented. Also, it’s much more convenient to work with Calcutta talent in the city than in a remote set-up. I was adamant about it.

The Mahabharata has been shown in many formats over the years. How much has it been fictionalised or changed for this production?

Roy: We had strict instructions from Netflix to keep the main storyline intact. So we adhered to it. We have used fiction to enhance some scenes but the story is the same. We had on board Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri as a researcher who is known to be a specialist in Indian epics and the Puranas. We may have increased the pace or dramatised some parts, that’s it.

How has the response been so far?

Chirimar: It has been extremely overwhelming. From day one, it was trending at #1. It’s rare for an animation film.

Are you planning a theatrical release at any point?

Chirimar: Yes, we are. In fact, the trend of animation films having theatrical release is catching up in India. Our next project is a theatrical release. One will be able to see 10-12 animation films, yearly, releasing in cinema halls.

What’s next?

Roy: We have finished a series called Chiranjeevi. We are waiting for positive news from a streaming platform. There’s also another very exciting project which we cannot disclose now.