Tom & Jerry dance to Punjabi tunes on 70th birthday party
By IANSWednesday, March 31, 2010
NEW DELHI - The world’s most popular cat and mouse - Tom & Jerry celebrated their 70th birthday in the capital Wednesday by dancing to Punjabi number “Ahun ahun” from the movie “Love Aaj Kal”, leaving children and the audience asking for more.
Two models dressed up as the popular animated characters laughed, danced, received a lifetime achievement award and even cut a huge cake at the celebrations, which saw around 100 children cheering happily. A tattoo corner, mini golf course, photo booth and a jigsaw to solve, were other attractions there for the kids.
“‘Tom & Jerry’ has completed 70 years of existence this year and we wished to promote this in the first quarter of 2010. So we planned a lot of activities and this was the grand celebration here today,” Monica Tata, vice president and deputy general manager - entertainment networks, South Asia, Turner International India, told IANS.
Special shows were aired March and April on popular Cartoon Network channel to mark the 70th year of the cartoon show, which is beamed across the country in Hindi, English, Tamil and Telegu.
The show is being aired in India for the past 13 years and it has till date, managed to strike a chord with people of all ages.
Indian cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, who too was present along with stand-up comedian Vir Das for the party, says Tom & Jerry tops his list of favourite cartoon shows even after so many years.
“Tom & Jerry is a slapstick sitcom. And unlike their age, the characters are young and energetic. I love to watch it and I have been watching these since a lot of years. They have been an inspiration for most of my political cartoon strips,” Tailang told IANS.
“Indian politics is quite like a cat-mouse chase. I feel the Indian voter is the mouse and ruler is the cat,” he quipped.
Cartoon Network currently has 161 episodes of the show to air and has no plans to add new content to the series, said Tata. “Chooha Billi Chor Police” - the Indian version of Tom & Jerry airs every Monday-Thursday for an hour and a half in the evening.
