Animation films fail to rock the box-office

MUMBAI: All's not well in animation land. Despite corporates doing all they can to ensure that India's animation industry gets its place in Bollywood, there's still time before your favourite toon can rock the box-office.

Rumour has it that Percept Picture Company's Jumbo was bought cheap (it's originally a Thai animation film) but they paid Akshay Kumar a whopping Rs 9 crore as dubbing fee. They also shot a promotional video, allegedly had a large marketing budget (Rs 8 crore) and gave the Christmas offering great visibility on both hoardings as well as the airwaves. "However, Jumbo was swept away in the Ghajini wave,'' says trade analyst Taran Adarsh, who personally felt the film was probably Bollywood's best bet at animation in 2008.

Trade sources confirm that Bollywood has had a bad run with animation this year. Between Hanuman Returns, Krishna, Roadside Romeo, Dashavatar, Ghatotkach and My Friend Ganesha parts 1 and 2, insiders estimate animation losses will total up to about Rs 70 crore. "Indian animation has suffered quite a few hiccups,'' says a trade source. "What's worse is that many animation films that are complete and awaiting release have no takers.''

Barely a year ago when Walt Disney tied up with Yashraj Films to commission their first joint venture Roadside Romeo (Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor dubbed for the lead pair), Bollywood pundits went to town claiming that animation as a genre had `arrived'. In fact, at least 25 animation films were announced by various corporations, and an estimated Rs 4,000 crore was to be kept aside for the animation studios that were being planned across India. "Everything is on hold now,'' says trade guru Amod Mehra. "Film corporations are shaken with the blow-hot, blow-cold response to this genre.''

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