‘Lava Kusa - The Warrior Twins’, Indias First 70 mm Animation Film
By SAMPURNMonday, June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Lava Kusa - The Warrior Twins’ is going to be India’s first 70 mm Animation film, which will initially be released in English, Hindi and Telugu. Dhavala Satyam has directed the movie, which is set to release around June 25.
The film is also the costliest animation movie ever made in the country, with a whopping budget of Rs 25 Crore. It is the story of the two twin sons of Rama and Sita. The film starts with their birth at sage Valmiki’s hermitage and then moves to their meeting with their father and the final revelation.
The movie has a scene where Rama and Ravana are fighting and there are thousands of other characters. Sasikumar Prabhakaran, animation director of the movie said, “The most challenging part of the scene was definitely managing the animal army.”
Indian animation filmmakers do not have any western precedent when it comes to the mythological films. Sasikumar said, “The only reference we could look forward was the Ramayana series aired on TV, which is not an easy act at all.”
The Rayudu Vision Media Ltd (RVML) was where most of the work of the movie was done. It is an entertainment business house based in Hyderabad.
Sasikumar added, “It has been quite difficult to bring in the technicians of international standards in India. But, we have not compromised with the quality of animation.”
Lava Kusa has not less than 2500 shots, whereas in a typical Hollywood animated movie, only 900-1000 shots are taken at the maximum. Lots of visual effects are also used during the battle and song sequences.
The animation director added, “We have used lots of animal characters in the film, who act as the friends of Lava and Kusha. These animals play vital roles in the movie.”
The movie has five songs with a classical touch. L Vaidyanathan of Malgudi Days fame has composed music for the film, he passed away before the movie could be completed.
The songs are sung by renowned singers KJ Yesudas, Chitra and Shankar Mahadevan.
– Sampurn Wire
