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Now, animation a career option
By Riti, Section Jobs And Careers
As animation films become a part of mainstream Bollywood, the city is slowly but surely becoming the heart of the `animated' growth. Youngsters from the city are now increasingly looking at animation as a full-time career, and training institutes are catering to the rising demand.
Ask Nishant Chordia, who decided to "quit studies" after class XII simply because nothing interested him. Four years and two animation courses later, Nishant is developing animated websites for major corporate clients and earning more than his counterparts. "And I'm loving every minute of my job. I have the freedom to use my creativity to the hilt, to work whenever I feel like, to work from my home. Unlike my friends, I have nothing to crib about!" an excited Nishant says. "Everyone who thought I had lost it when I quit mainstream studies is now eating their words," he adds, barely able to hide the glee in his voice. Nishant is but one example of animation being accepted as a mainstream career by the industry, academia and society alike. Ashok Kolaskar, former vice-chancellor of the University of Pune and director of DSK Global Educational Research which runs a 5-year animation course in the city, declares, "Pune is going to become a major hub for the animation industry in the future. Look at how we have moved the animation industry from Bangalore and other cities to Pune! The Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA) has taken an initiative to see that the animation industry continues to grow. It is currently growing at about 30 percent compound rate every year," Kolaskar said. Talking to TOI, Rishi Acharya, academic head of Arena Multimedia that has been teaching animation for more than 10 years now, said that the institute has trained more than 10 lakh students who are now working with premier organisations like Toons India. "The special effects of `Superman Returns', the Narnia series and other Hollywood films was done in India. Even software companies are getting into animation. Reliance has started an animation studio in the city while Infosys has also jumped into the fray," Acharya said. Speaking of the opportunities for animation students, Acharya said the "sky is the limit" for talented youngsters. He added that while the domestic animation industry stood at $76 mn in 1996, it has now skyrocketed to touch $560 mn in just over 10 years. Alumni of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), which has 1,200 students in the city alone, have been placed in top studios like Rhythm and Hues. Gautam Bishnoi, director of MAAC, said that the institute has tied up with Cambridge University to certify their animation course. "Movies like `Hanuman' and `Roadside Romeo' have made it easier to convince parents about animation as an industry. Click on Full Story for More.
While the students are quite keen on animation, Indian parents still have to be coaxed into allowing them to join this occupation," Bishnoi said.
Youngsters like Nishant, who give up on a mainstream degree to study animation, continue to be few and far between. But the number of students who have taken up animation as a fulltime career after graduating in some other discipline is vast and rising. Like 20-year-old Janak Kundloor, a commerce graduate, who did his graduation "just for the sake of the degree". "I wanted to do something creative and animation suited me just fine. All my friends were into MBA or CA, but I wanted to do something that I loved, and which was different," Janak says. The young man is confident that the "infotainment industry in India is here to stay," and wants to pursue only animation as his fulltime career hereon.
A similar story is narrated by Gayathri Vasudevan, who wanted to study architecture. But since that "didn't happen", she settled for animation. "My mother wanted me to do an MBA, Gayathri's friend Hemangi Shinde is a graduate in Zoology. "My family was astonished when I chose animation because no one has ever done that before. But science didn't interest me, and I didn't want to join the family's hotel business. I want to enter the film industry," she says with a confidence that belies her soft-spoken demeanour. Meanwhile, the institutes are occupied with wooing students on the one hand, while staying updated with the latest technology on the other. Frameboxx, a 6-month-old institute, reports that the response to its animation courses has been "phenomenal". "We have already started multiple centres in India as well as one centre in Sri Lanka. The industry regards Frameboxx as the fastest growing animation brand in the country. Our centre is considered one of the most beautiful animation institutes all over the country, and not only are we inundated with requests from students, but applicants for faculty posts as well!" said Gaurav Singh, director of the institute. The last word, however, came from Kolaskar, who cautioned that we may not be able to produce enough trained manpower to meet industry requirements. "We are constantly concerned about development of human resources. The industry is going to need 20,000 - 25,000 personnel from the animation industry at all levels. We need to develop tier II and tier III institutes to meet the burgeoning demand. And while Mumbai is going to be the hub because of Bollywood affiliation, it is Pune that is going to be the cynosure of all studios and the entire industry," Kolaskar said. Source:The Times Of India November4th,2008.
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