Friday, June 28, 2019

TV series writing for Sheikh Chilli and Friends

Post my academic stint I joined iRealities Technologies Pvt. Ltd as a creative director. My first task was tackling the writing and direction of the hit animated TV show Sheikh Chilli and Friendz. My background as a story artist came as a great advantage.
My story plots and final scripts were visual in nature which helped speed up the Storyboarding process with lesser revisions. I was also aware of the production limitations, so balancing it with entertainment and new-ness is something I did my best at.
Currently this season is airing on Discovery Kidz India.

Puppet Show

I have always had a fascination with toys and the way a child will use them to do storytelling and keep himself entertained. I am a product of the same.
Somewhere in 2009 I saw Dadi Pudumjee perform at NCPA and BOOM!! went my mind. I wanted to study it, but since I was busy with animation this dream kind of got left out. When I went into academics I nurtured my dream back to life (I was the Head of the Department at Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune). But then how to go about it?? I contacted renowned puppeteer and theater personality Meena Naik to come take a workshop at the institute where I taught and learnt a bit of the process of putting together a puppet play.
The next year I floated an elective on Puppetry and here are some of the results.

This a prayer to Lord Ganesha that we choreographed with the help of our theatre teacher Aditi, it is a complex 3 person operated puppet. It was a great joy to see my effort come to life.

We also created some short skits.


Finally I was able to turn the short skits into two good student projects.


Now that I am back in the industry I did put a pitch together to make the project into commercially sustainable production which retains the culture. Hope it goes into production soon.

Indian Institute of Cartoonists

I am an annual contributor to the IIC annual Maya Kamath Memorial Awards competition, and this year again my work is part of the display.


Graphic Storytelling

When Bharath Murthy told me he was reviving Comix India and wanted contributors for the first issue of VÉRITÉ I jumped at the opportunity and come up with a story which was in spirit of the TRUTH it sought. I was looking at the ugly side of academics in those days and made the story "Research Ramblings" which was then published in the inaugural issue. The story of a professor caught in the web of greedy management, crazy policies and love for art stuck several raw emotions with academicians who are caught in the same trap.

For more details please visit Comix India website.



The roughs in development, as I script a visual narrative




Samples of Final artworks


The story received several rave reviews, especially with one
The Comics Alternative Podcast 

Books for the Indian American identity

I had the fortune of collaborating with Niyati Desai Kadakia on two books which were then released online on Amazon. What I loved about this project is that the stories were not just a work of fiction, they were based on real life experiences of children of immigrants settling into the American Dream. What is it that they retain of their culture without being embarrassed about it forms the core of their identity. The books reflect to keep the individual cultural identity while assimilating into the new American culture.
Illustrated and Designed by me, these two books are now a part of several school libraries in the US and continue to spread the good word.

There is Roti in my Lunchbox


Where am I From??