Hanuman returns as a global superhero

Percept plans to turn brand Hanuman into a global superhero with its sequels being dubbed in Italian, German, Spanish, reports Roshmila Bhattacharya.

Superman and Krrish have competition. Hanuman returns.. as a global superhero. In his new avatar, the animated monkey God will chatter away not just in Hindi and angrezi, Tamil and Telugu, Kannada and Bhojpuri , but in German, Italian and Spanish too.

Percept Picture Company has grand plans to export its Hanuman sequel, dubbed in the three foreign languages, across the seven seas to lands that have already adopted India and its Bollywood masala.

HT Image

"The genes of every superhero are in this mythical hero.. he's super strong, soars into the skies and is soaked in emotion. And just for the record, who was born first: Hrithik Roshan or Hanuman?" asks Shailendra Singh, MD, PPC.

Hanuman 3 too
A combination of the 3-D and 2-D technology, Singh insists that even technically the Rs 24 crore Hanuman Returns is a product to be proud, and should be acceptable abroad. That's the reason why halfway through Hanuman 2, work started on Hanuman 3 -The Return of Raavan that should take the world by storm in the summer of 2008.

"The third film in the series will really establish the brand as a global icon," Singh asserts. The story has been written not just for a predominantly Indian audience, but a world audience. Foreign writers have been collaborating with our writers here and the script is being sent abroad for correction. Today, even for the Americans and Europeans, our mythologies are no longer ‘voodoos'."

Though Singh admits that the sequels are big gambles, he's reasonably assured of the success of the Hanuman series, given the fact that action films have always done well.

"We've just moved one level up.. from hero Sunny Deol to superheroes. There's a generic need amongst consumers for these new wonder men," he says.

Just kiddin'
Undoubtedly, the surprise success of Hanuman has pioneered the trend of animated movies in India. Today, PNC is talking of animated versions of Sholay and Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina while Karan Johar is working on an animated Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.