Is there any animation or comic that drew its inspiration from Indian art?
I watched an anime movie yesterday night. It’s morning now, and my sleepy foggy brain is loaded with doubts that are too big to clear for the hot cup of coffee warming my hands. This blog post is my attempt to get your help to clear up my thoughts.
I was thinking about Japanese anime, and how it drew its inspiration from Manga. Naturally, I began to wonder — what about Indian animation? Is there any such thing? Why not? When there are distinctive arts, cultures, languages, and literature, why didn’t they seep into animation — a relatively new form of art?
Or am I just ignorant?
Various styles of Indian art must have inspired Indian animators. In fact India is a popular destination for ODCs (Offshore Development Centers) where Designers and animators create animation films for some of the most popular movie makers. It seems impossible to not consider Indian arts for animation. Back to my question again — Are there any animation movies inspired by Indian art?
Japan — The land of Sushi, Ceramics, Santoku knives, Manga, Anime ……. (The list goes on)
Consider the example of Japan. The country, however smaller and economically more developed than India, seems to have done a great job at preserving and popularizing its traditional arts and crafts. Traditional Japanese arts, colors, inks, and Manga gave rise to anime. Quite unsurprisingly, like many Japanese writers Kazu Kibuishi, author of the contemporary comic series Amulet, also says that his art style is inspired by Japanese manga. Did such a thing not take place in India?
“Ek Anek” — Couldn’t we merge ‘Anek’ arts and technologies to craft an ‘Ek’ animation video?
In India, we have art styles that are distinctively native to our country. Yet as far as I could identify, I never came across any contemporary Indian animation that drew its inspiration from Indian arts, in its style. However, I can see that the themes of our period dramas, movies, and books are very much inspired by Hindu Mythology. Could we have carried forward the myths and religious traditions, but not our arts?
When I think of Indian animation, the first thing that comes to my mind is the “Ek Anek” song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-tTOJ1RvUY) played in Doordarshan quite frequently from the 70s through the 90s. The part I love the most is how the kids turn colorful and more beautiful after eating a Mango (metaphorically enjoying the fruits of Unity). I learned from the internet that the animator of the song Bhimsain (Bhimsain — Wikipedia) also made another animation series ‘Vartmaan’. The content seems to have been inspired by Hindu mythology/philosophy. He experimented with 3D animation in the ’90s. But I couldn’t find relatable Indian art inspiration in the series, though it was visible in the ‘Ek Anek’ song. A seed was sown but probably didn’t bloom.
Which Indian painting styles can be incorporated into animation?
I see some similarities in style among kalamkari paintings, leather puppets (tolu bommalu), Kerala mural art, and Ajanta paintings. There are some folk styles like Madhubani and Worli too. Indian miniature is another popular style. Generations of artists practiced all the three styles of art. Like Manga, these incorporate outlines, making them suitable for animation as well.
Why didn’t the traditional artists collaborate with moviemakers to create new forms of art?
Probably none of them have studied art or design and didn’t have access to technologies or movie makers. Their education probably was limited to their livelihood, homes, traditional practices, or work. When the forms of storytelling like puppet shows (Burra kathalu) lost their popularity, some of these crafts were lost and with them the opportunity to adapt them to movies, theatre, dance, animation, fashion, etc.
A Vision for traditional Indian Arts
Some of the traditional Indian arts are being revived. They take new forms to beautify household objects or clothes. Some artists have transferred them to canvases as well. I wish to see them venture further into places like animation, that are more new, technology-supported, viable, and can make Indian arts popular.
When a Telugu song could win an Oscar, can’t an animation movie in Kalamkari style gain international popularity?
I remember viewing a kind of GIF on artist Joyeeta’s (https://studiojoyeeta.com/) Insta account. Probably her style evolved from Jamini Roy’s, through years of practice and generations of knowledge preservation. How lovely would it be if she could paint characters in an animation film (at least a short one of a couple of mins)!
I may be wrong, probably many already drew inspiration from traditional Indian arts and crafts but presented them from their viewpoint. Probably, it is just my ignorance. A part of me hopes it is.
But, if you know anyone who might have answers to my doubts, please drop me an email. I would love to know if someone’s thinking about integrating arts and crafts with comics and animation.
