A still from the animation film Lal-Kalo, now under production

December will bring a Christmas gift for movie-goers in Bengal — the first animation film in Bengali, Lal-Kalo.

The story of rivalry between red and black ants published in 1930 was penned by Girindrasekhar Basu, brother of Rajsekhar ‘Parashuram’ Basu. “It was a famous story in our childhood,” says R.D. Mallik, director of Elecom Toon. Lal-Kalo is abuzz with characters from the insect world — ants to flies, a frog to a lizard, making it a perfect fit for a fantasy in animation.

“I have expanded on the story which did not really have a proper climax,” says Kharaj Mukherjee, who has written the script as well as dubbed the voice of Ghun (termite), the villain.

Several characters have been introduced to make for a well-rounded plot. If Ghun incites both camps, the black princess Krishna and the red prince Lohit introduce romance amid the ruckus. Violence has also been bypassed. So there would be no beheading of the red ant who is caught leching at a black beauty. “The climax too would carry a message of universal brotherhood from the venerable Spider, dubbed by Sabyasachi Chakraborty,” Mukherjee says.

A glimpse of the work going on for about a year in Elecom’s studio in Mahestala, South 24-Parganas, reveals a quality unrivalled in local animation. “We have been working for European clients and so have the confidence to match international standards. Animation in Bengal must not get stuck at the levels of the Thakumar Jhulis shown on TV,” Mallik asserts.

“It takes us six hours to produce drawing worth one second of animation,” says Santanu Pal, the animation-in-charge, showing around the studio where 82 artistes are engaged in making the ants sing and dance, conspire and quarrel.

“We had planned the film only in Bengali but as the budget started spiralling, we decided to release it in Hindi too,” Mallik adds. The 82-minute film with a budget of Rs 3-4 crore, is a joint venture with Fiesta Entertainment, which has done the post-production work for films like Munnabhai MBBS, Koi... Mil Gaya and Black. The Hindi version, called Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang, features the voices of Ashish Vidyarthi, Mahesh Manjrekar and Asrani.

The ant saga, which has Ustad Rashid Khan singing one of the songs, will be simultaneously released in Bengali and Hindi, with Telugu being a third option.