Praxis

The need to entertain an audience in an evocative thought-provoking way has always been a priority for my work. My previous education in Graphic Design, New Media and Film sequentially led me to choose Animation as my language of expression and my career. In this complex ‘Globalized’ world that most of us are a part of today, I would like to situate myself as an Indian animation film maker globally, and as a global animation film maker in India. I use these words carefully, as depicting my culture has always been a subliminal necessity for me, and depicting it in a way that is inclusive, entertaining, honest, and as well as commercially viable – my current objective.

In his presentation on the KRAZY show at ECI in June 2008, Bruce Grenville spoke about the significance of an artist and his contribution to his medium “As either a A) Pre-cursor, who plants the seed of a movement or proposes a new way of interpreting the medium, or B) an Amplifier, who takes the work done by pre-cursors and propagates the medium to a wider audience, or C) a Projectionist, whose work exceeds previous standards and propels the future of the medium.”

In my Praxis paper, I would like to specify the context within which I situate myself in Animation (in India and globally) before I use my film ‘Key Tumi?’ as a working example of my Praxis, and where I hope to see it go.

The history of animation in India is a very blurry and second-hand one. A severe lack of documentation of the work done over the years has led to entire generations of films inaccessible to audiences. More importantly animation is a fairly new cultural entity in India, quite unlike other countries where the progress of the subject has evolved naturally- from within itself. However, if one were to trace back a trajectory to a pre-cursor in Indian animation, all roads would lead to Ram Mohan, whose career in animation spans 40 years of work in film and advertising. Commenting on the future of Animation in India, he says

"There is a lot of potential for the growth of animation in India. The ‘Cartoon’ image of animation from their minds should be taken out. As the countries in the west, animation is done at different levels- for children and for adults. Likewise it should be in India. There is lot of potential for original content but unfortunately the infrastructure is missing." (Design in India, 2008, July 28th. www.designinindia.net/design-thoughts/masters/ram-mohan/interview-animation-in-india.html#b)

I agree with Mr. Mohan, except for his cause and effect role of a ‘missing infrastructure’. A booming Industry of service providers, Indian animators today (as opposed to when the interview might have taken place) have no lack of infrastructure. What seems lacking is the need for fresh original ideas, along with the need to experiment. Rich and diverse heritage aside, I am tired of seeing my gods reincarnate themselves time and time again in different animated ‘avatars’ in the guise of speaking to a wide (generally religious) national audience. This orthodox need to stick to the trodden path, along with the fact that animation is not a ‘natural’ product of our culture, has resulted in a narrow view of what is possible in this medium. Perhaps it is a collective subconscious sense of denial, where we deny our developing country lives as unworthy or simply not ‘cool’ enough to depict on screen. The reality is that we are yet to represent our modern, contemporary India in animated shows or films next to the likes of ‘Dexter’s Laboratory’ or ‘Family Guy’ successfully. My films ‘Hua Noor’ (2004), ‘Ud Jayega’ (2005) and ‘Key Tumi?’(2008) have all tried to explore different realities and story-telling possibilities in the current Indian paradigm, with varying degrees of success.

"At the end of the long production road, it is the audience's reaction that counts - whether they are amused, challenged, transformed or just plan indifferent." (Noake 9)

In my experience of studying, watching and making films, the (apparent) ‘passive’ reaction of an audience to time based media is actually quite an active real-time dialogue between form, content and intent. Usually, the content dictates the form, which in turn reaffirms the intent. This complex cognitive decoding happens subconsciously within seconds for even the youngest most unassuming of viewers. This parametric balance applies to everything from 20 second commercials to 5 minute short films all the way to full length feature films. Exploring this balance between form, content and intent is what I see as my area of interest in Animation- regardless of technique.

Another major interest - Culture, for me is not a fixed notion of one’s past, but something that is an ever-changing culmination of our past, our present, and our aspirations for the future. My naïve and personal experience of middle class India today, coupled with my presumption that there is no one objective ‘truth’, led me to explore the only topic I felt I could talk honestly about- my family. Perhaps it is a reaction to the current trend in animation worldwide that shies away from references to the real world (or real people), it is still to be seen whether this personal form of storytelling will successfully entertain audiences world-wide and stand the test of time and the box office.

In‘Key Tumi?’ (Loosely translates to ‘Who are you?’) I have tried to depict the contemporary creation myth of my family, in a way that is personal, and still accessible, engaging and entertaining to a wide audience. On a conceptual note, my challenge was to make a film that portrayed an India of today (one of the millions that may exist) - one that challenges old stereotypes and perhaps forms new associations.

In his essay, “Defining Non-Fiction Film” Richard Meran Barsam quotes Andrew Sarris “All films are documentary films in the sense that all films are documents of someone, something, some time or some place.” (367)

My original intent was to make an Animated Documentary film, mixing live action interviews with animation- an old idea of marrying the two ends of the fiction vs. non-fiction genre spectrum. However, as I began thinking my form and content through, it seemed less important to convey the so called ‘reality’ of the story than it was to convey the ‘sense’ of the story. In other words, a created animated image that made no apparent claim to ‘reality’ would allow the audience to enter the film easier than the barrier and baggage of the live action ‘real’ image. Having let go of the need to stick to the truth, my intention was to focus on the universal aspects of this personal story, and tie them together in a cohesive and entertaining way. Learning the rules of dramatic structure- the ever important ‘arc’ (and the advantages and consequences of straying away from it) helped me understand how calculative and manipulative time based media needs to be.

At a time where everything (in media) has probably been done before, where even the most sophisticated special effect ceases to amaze us, where lines are drawn for people to choose sides, I choose to return to matters of the heart- Content, and to entertainment that stands the test of time, technology and nationality. To conclude, I would like to make films that follow the rules, models and commercial production systems of dramatic cinema in ways that leave the viewer amused, empowered and most importantly – entertained.