{"id":2934,"date":"2026-06-25T08:36:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2934"},"modified":"2026-06-25T08:36:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T08:36:27","slug":"baahubali-animated-feature-director-producer-on-taking-indian-cinema-global-and-bringing-indian-audiences-to-animation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2934","title":{"rendered":"\u2019Baahubali\u2019 Animated Feature Director, Producer on Taking Indian Cinema Global and Bringing Indian Audiences to Animation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe \u201cBaahubali\u201d universe is one which has been continually transformative for mainstream Indian cinema and the latest entry, the animated feature \u201cBaahubali: The Eternal War \u2013 Part 1,\u201d might be on the verge of doing it again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Mubi to Publish Lost \u2018Faust\u2019 Bible on Centenary of F.W. Murnau\u2019s Silent Cinema Classic (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tA co-production between India\u2019s Arka Mediaworks and France\u2019s Alcyde, as well as Zaratan and Aniventure in the U.K., with animation led by Mumbai\u2019s 88 Pictures, its heavily stylized take on the expansive world of the films by S.S. Rajamouli (\u201cRRR\u201d) presents for the filmmakers an opportunity for Indian animation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAhead of a work in progress unveil at France\u2019s Annecy Animation Festival, Arka Mediaworks co-founder and producer Shobu Yarlagadda (the \u201cBaahubali\u201d franchise) reflected with director Ishan Shukla (\u201cSchirkoa: In Lies We Trust,\u201d \u201cStar Wars: Visions \u2013 The Bandits of Golak\u201d) on the chance that animation represented for this fictional world to expand in a meaningful way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn India, animation is still something which hasn\u2019t really caught people\u2019s attention,\u201d Shukla says. \u201cThey\u2019re really rare, and something like \u2018Baahubali,\u2019 where we already have a fanbase in India, hopefully will create more animation aficionados in India.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer Yarlagadda also hopes that \u201ca new generation and new fans will start looking not just [into] \u2018Baahubali,\u2019 but into Indian stories and Indian movies as well,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the producer, the Annecy presentation affirms that they are on the right path to reach a global audience, particularly for animation from India. \u201cIt\u2019s been a tough journey for Indian animation, primarily because of the budgets, not because of lack of stories or lack of talent,\u201d Yarlagadda observes. The reputation of the \u2018Baahubali\u2019 franchise and Shukla\u2019s involvement, to Yarlagadda, meant they could pick the right teams and secure the budget they needed for good quality animation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tYarlagadda describes the challenge as \u201ca chicken and egg story\u201d: Since there is a reluctance to put money behind the talent, this leads to films which are less financially viable, which then restricts future animated features seeking a budget.\u201dSomeone has to break that first,\u201d Yarlagadda argues. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be presumptuous about it, but at least the ambition is that we do something that can create new markets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tReflecting on the Indian animation landscape Shukla thinks about education. \u201cArt takes a backseat more often than not, what happens in the end is that we have very limited amount of schools and even a lesser number of students who want to make films or want to come into animation, and in the end there is no business, because there are no creators.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more ACM Honors Event Sets Kacey Musgraves, Ella Langley, Leslie Fram and Other Country Heavyweights for Special Awards<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tHe does see it changing, however, saying that the popularity of anime among young people in India is one signifier. \u201cI think the culture is shifting, and I see a lot more indie animators making their own YouTube channels,\u201d he adds. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe afterlife setting and story of \u201cThe Eternal War,\u201d to Shukla, could only be told in this medium. \u201cThat kind of a story doesn\u2019t really work in live action, you know. It makes far more sense to show something this fantastical with so many different worlds and realms with their own set of rules,\u201d he adds. The live action films are already larger than life themselves, by the director\u2019s definition, and in \u201cThe Eternal War,\u201d they\u2019re doubling down. \u201cWe are putting steroids into it,\u201d Shukla laughs, \u201cbecause in this world, in this new realm, we can do really whatever we want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat sense of freedom was important to Shukla, whose work is known for having a distinct personality. \u201cBoth Shobu [Yarlagadda] and Rajamouli are giving me all the resources, but they are letting me steer the ship, which is amazing,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s like Christmas for us animators.\u201d Shukla adds. \u201cI\u2019m very fortunate to have a producer like Shobu, because the best part is that he understands tech very well. He also understands that it\u2019s not about the technique, it\u2019s about the artist who\u2019s driving it, so when I started the movie, he let me pick the right artists for the designs and for the animation tests and this and that, and that really defined the look of the movie in the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tShukla and the team envisioned art design as resembling \u201cmoving concept art\u201d with its painterly details. \u201cWe are pushing the boundaries artistically as much as possible, both in terms of design and also how we are intertwining concept art sensibilities, in which the final render almost looks like an illustration or a concept product,\u201d Shukla says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe music was also key in building out the vision of the film. \u201cIt\u2019s not like your typical Indian music that you\u2019re going to hear in the movie, it\u2019s going to be a fusion of a few things, as well as the art styles,\u201d he explains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThis sense of fusion permeates the film, as each of the different realms of the afterlife the film explores comes with its own look. \u201cThere are three styles, primarily, which are going to finally come into the movie. One is the painterly CG that we are talking about. There are two other art styles; they are not there for the sake of putting or slapping another art style in the movie,\u201d Shukla explains, noting that he felt it was important that these styles felt meaningful, that each world asked for a different artistic sensibility. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe visual flexibility of \u201cThe Eternal War\u201d is something which matches the very nature of the \u201cBaahubali\u201d universe, in the eyes of producer Yarlagadda. \u201cIt\u2019s a very elastic universe, in the sense that it\u2019s one of those worlds where you can organically bring in more worlds and characters,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe Eternal War\u201d has opened up a new set of worlds for the team both into Indian mythology\u00a0and a new set of characters. Yarlagadda feels that more stories can be told through the \u201cBaahubali\u201d world, through any medium. \u201cIt can be series or graphic novels, and hopefully games, there is opportunity for all of them. But I think we will take it one step at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Power, Discrimination, Difference, Motherhood and Rural Diaspora Brought Into Focus at Women in Animation from Spain<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn India, animation is still something which hasn’t really caught people’s attention,” says Ishan Shukla, director of \u2018Baahubali: The Eternal War.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2475,344,2473,2474],"class_list":["post-2934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-baahubali-the-eternal-war","tag-annecy-animation-festival","tag-ishan-shukla","tag-shobu-yarlagadda"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2019Baahubali\u2019 Animated Feature Director, Producer on Taking Indian Cinema Global and Bringing Indian Audiences to Animation - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2934\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2019Baahubali\u2019 Animated Feature Director, Producer on Taking Indian Cinema Global and Bringing Indian Audiences to Animation - 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