Little Krishna, a 3D animation film produced by the India Heritage Foundation (IHF) has won two BAF awards for ‘The Best TV Episode‘
and a special recognition award under the same category for
‘Outstanding Indian content‘ in the FICCI-BAF awards ceremony held
on 27 th March, in Mumbai.

The
India Heritage Foundation (IHF) is an independent Trust created to
preserve and propagate the ancient and timeless heritage of India in
it‘s varied manifestations like literature, music, dance, architecture, cuisine and so on with the objective of improving the quality of life of people.

In order
to diffuse the virtuous values embodied in the ancient epics of India
in an entertaining experience especially for children, the India
Heritage Foundation set about creating 3D computer graphics animated films
for TV serials on the life and activities of Krishna as described in
the Srimad Bhagavatam. "It has been a dream project for us," says Madhu
Pandit Das, Chairman of the Foundation, "to create world-class
presentations of Krishna pastimes using the state-of-the-art computer
graphics and animation technology."

The India Heritage Foundation commissioned Anirights Infomedia Pvt Ltd, a high-end animation studio
in Bangalore city to produce these animated films. A three times Emmy
award winning script writer, Jeffrey Scott of Hollywood fame was
appointed to write the scripts. Extensive research material, authentic
information on the pastimes of Krishna and extensive creative direction
were provided by the subject matter experts from the ISKCON Temple in
Bangalore. Vincent Edwards, who had formerly directed the Spiderman animated TV serial from Hollywood
was appointed as the Series Director. A team of about 250 young,
energetic and highly talented Indian animators, character modelers,
background artists, etc. was set up. The result is a series of
22-minute animated films of world-class production values.

The
estimated cost of this world class animated production is about Rs.
22.5 crores. This project is entirely funded by India Heritage
Foundation, though ISKCON Bangalore has provided all spiritual advisory
input. India Heritage Foundation is a charitable institution and has
developed a unique funding strategy for raising these funds through
surplus generated out of housing development for its supporters at
Kanakapura Road known as Gokulam Complex.

The first in the series, The Attack of Serpent Kaliya,
was screened in the recently concluded FICCI-FRAMES festival in Mumbai
and won the Best Animated TV Episode Award and the Outstanding Indian
Content Award.

Speaking to presspersons, the Vice Chairman of IHF, Shri Chanchalapathi Das said, "The Krishna
Animation film has been made in order to continue the tradition of
story-telling to children, but in the way that today‘s children like
to hear and see stories- animation films. If the best of cartoons and animations are filling in our children‘s minds, why can‘t we use the same medium to present our own heritage content?"

"When we
took up the first episode of Kaliya story, we realized that it was
technically a great challenge to create in 3D graphics," says Ashish
Kulkarni, CEO of Anirights Infomedia Pvt Ltd, the animation studio that
produced Little Krishna! Ashish said, "We had to animate 3D cloth,
water and over and above that wet cloth! There were practically no
skilled people to handle this in our country. Our talented artists took
up the challenge and we were able to achieve considerable success."

"The
animation section of ‘Best Animated Frames‘ Award for excellence in
animation received more than 360 entries" said Habil Khorakiwala,
President of FICCI on the occasion of the awards ceremony.

The
FICCI- BAF (Best Animated Frames) staging its 4th year of awards, has
been set-up by the Federation of Indian Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
to recognize and encourage animation industry in India. FICCI-BAF is
part of FRAMES which is FICCI‘s annual global convention covering the
entire gamut of entertainment.