Animated Pursuit

Brave is a swashbuckling,roller coaster journey of a cursed princess named Merida. The princess also has three suitors. The film,directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman,releases on June 22 and its animator is visibly excited. Talking about his “Spiderman days” in India,and how he would spend hours practicing drawings from Blair’s books,Rihan says,“I found it difficult to pursue animation in India because there was no formal curriculum. I came to the US to study software engineering but enrolled myself in a film school,” says Rihan. As a student of the University of Southern California,he made short animated films such as Topi,Arjuna and Abridged. The productions caught the attention of animation major Pixar and soon Rihan was roped in by Pixar Studios for Brave. “I always wanted to create characters,give them voice and see them in films,” says Rihan,who adds that working for Disney-Pixar is a dream come true and his role as a technical director is challenging and exciting. “Unlike a normal feature film where only actors have to film at a given location,here we had to create location for the characters to fit in. First we would make a drawing and then model the same in 3D. Then camera angles were decided. The actors came in later,” tells Rihan.

Brave,unlike other animated films,has a complex story,he says. “There were times when the directors would see the finished product on screen and spot errors that had missed us,” says Rihan,who feels that this is an exciting phase for animation movies globally and in India as well. “The latest offering from Disney,Arjun: The Warrior Prince was great. It is important for us to hold on to our cultural context and tell our own stories rather than being influenced. The technicalities will fall into place,” feels Rihan,adding how it would be unfair to underestimate the existing talent in India. He is now looking forward to attending film school meetings and honing his skills further.