Welcome To Surendran-Max | Latest Tamil Cinema: Apr 10, 2008

ADA group’s Adlabs Films and Chennai-based Ocher Studios have entered into a co-production agreement for a full-length animated feature film project featuring South Indian superstar Rajnikant in the lead. The film is expected to be completed in 12-18 months.

The producers are eyeing Indian and overseas markets for the first-of-its-kind project in India, and the project marks Adlabs’ foray into the animation space. Ocher Studios is a post-production studio currently serving the south Indian film industry.

Speaking to exchange4media, V Venkat, COO, Ocher Studios, said, “Any animation project on this scale should take 12-18 months to complete. We are looking at a similar timeframe. The team for the project and work allocation is being worked out right now, and we will start meeting directors and start work on the storyline and other things now.”

The project will involve leading international specialist skills, and the team at Ocher itself is slated to go up by 150 people. It currently engages 35 post-production professionals. The producers are eyeing English and Hindi besides Tamil versions at this point, and point out that they may consider other languages later.

In a press statement, Pooja Shetty, Director, Adlabs Films, said, “There is a dearth of quality animation content originating from India, and Adlabs is making a keen foray into the sector with this project. Taking a long-term holistic view of the animation sector, we are in the process of creating a system that would look into the development of animation content and its marketing and distribution requirements.”

The concept was the brainchild of Soundarya Rajnikant, MD of Ocher, and the hunt for a partner is said to have begun 15 to 20 days ago.

“With our expertise and their experience in the field of entertainment, the world is going to see quality projects soon,” she said, adding that it would be a unique privilege to animate her father for the first time. She stated that she considered it “a special dedication for his contribution to the film industry”.

The year-old company has worked on Rajnikant’s recent mega hit ‘Chandramukhi’, and several other Tamil and Telugu films. The other projects in the pipeline include K Balachander’s ‘Poi’, and Rajnikant’s ‘Sivaji’ directed by Shankar. The company is in talks to venture up north, and has its eyes set on the global market as well. Ocher hopes to capture 40 per cent of the Indian cinema post-production market by the middle of 2006.