hemaroo's Ghatothkach at Cannes

Ghatothkach - Master of Magic, the 90-minute 2D animated film by Mumbai based Shemaroo Entertainment and Hyderabad based Sun Animatics, is all set to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival 2008.

"The film was previously promoted at the Cannes Film Festival 2007. After the phenomenal response that we got last year, the film is now being screened at Cannes to give international exposure," shared Smita Maroo, Head of Animation at Shemaroo.

"Through this, we hope to make people believe that good content can be produced in India. It is also for promoting the film and making people all over the world aware about the character," she added.

The film is directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, who has more than 50 years of experience in the Indian and South Indian film industries. He has 60 films to his credits including films like Pushpak, Appuraja and Son of Aladdin, a 3D animated film which has been appreciated round the world.

Budgeted at Rs 150 million, the 100-minute long film is targeted at children in the age group of four to 10 years. The film is slated for a May 23 worldwide release and has been dubbed in seven different languages namely English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali with English subtitles for USA and Canada.

The film is the journey of a prince and his elephant friend - it is full of magic. When challenged by evil forces that are out to destroy him and to stop him from fulfilling his destiny, Ghattu and Gajju form an invincible team to fight them. Together they unite two soul-mates against all odds.

Ghatothkach, lovingly called Ghattu is the prince of the forest and is blessed with extra-ordinary powers. He has loads of fun with his magical powers, but also uses them to protect everyone around him. As a five year old, he rescues Gajju, a baby elephant which leads to a lifelong friendship.

Many big names from the Indian film industry have worked on it on different fronts. Lyrics for this movie are by Sameer and the songs have been sung by Shravan (Hanuman Fame), Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sudeesh Bhosle, Mahalaxmi Iyer and Daler Mehandi.

Owell Mina has worked as the Animation Director for the film. He has 20 years of experience in animation industry with world class series shows like Legend of Dragon and Little Amadeus to his credit.

The music is composed by Pravin Mani, associate of Indian Prodigy AR Rehman. 48 Camera Motion Capture Technology has been used for the film.