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Ramayana returns

Sujata Reddy, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, April 08, 2008

First Published: 16:32 IST(8/4/2008)
Last Updated: 18:54 IST(8/4/2008)

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A still from the animated film Ramayana.

After directing ad films Raizada Rohit Jaising Vaid is now making a 3D animation film, Mahayoddha Rama, for Pixion and Contiloe Pictures.

Sameera Reddy, Kunal Kapoor, Gulshan Grover, Jimmy Sheirgill and radio broadcaster Ameen Sayani will be lending their voices for the different

characters.

“The story is about the battle royale between the greatest hero and villain of Indian mythology, Ram and Raavan. Several movies have been made on the Ramayana earlier, but I feel safe narrating a familiar story through an unfamiliar format,” says Vaid.

Starry sounds
Offering reasons for his choice of star voices he explains, “We want to show Ram as a handsome man with an attitude. Kunal’s voice and persona is just right. As for Reddy, she looks and sounds like princess, while Grover is the only name that came to mind when he thought of Raavan."

Small to big
The film budgeted at Rs. 20-22 crore, is almost 60 per cent complete and likely to hit the theatres in December. With Ramayana riding high on NDTV Imagine, Vaid believes the timing is right.

“The success of the teleserial has reaffirmed that our audience will never tire of Ram,” he points out.

Vaid argues that the grandeur of the epic is lost on the small screen and in live action movies it is not possible to show intricate details of the war being fought, or the creation of the Lanka bridge.

“That is where animation comes in,” he says.

Vaid’s next will be a live action film on the lines of the Hollywood movie 300.