Love story that created Taj Mahal

Arjun RaghunathFirst Published : 24 Mar 2010 02:10:00 AM ISTLast Updated :

Taj Mahal, one of the wonders of the world, needs no introduction. But the deep love story of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz, which eventually resulted in the making of Taj Mahal, is not that well-known.


With this idea in mind, the Technopark-based Toonz Animation, in association with the Middle East-based Al-Jazeera, is bringing out an animated film on Taj Mahal, focusing on the love story.

``We have already started the initial works on the 4-million dollar project. Our idea was to bring out something acceptable to the Muslim community and hence this story was chosen. The film would be targeting India and the Middle East,’’ P. Jayakumar, chief executive officer of Toonz Animation, told ‘Expresso’.

Toonz, one of the leading animation production companies in India, is also planning a tie-up with Nokia for providing digitised versions of popular comics through the OVI store of Nokia, from where Nokia phone customers could download a variety of applications.

``The discussions in this line are only in the preliminary stages. Our proposal is to provide digitised versions of popular comics like Amar Chitra Katha on the OVI store,’’ said Jayakumar.

Toonz, which has established its name in the world animation industry by associating with leading media houses like BBC, Walt Disney, Marvel and Universal Studios, has entertained the animation lovers in India by bringing out the country’s first animated television series `The Adventures of Tenali Raman’ and other projects like `Hanuman’ and `Geet Mahabharat’.

Briefing on the future plans of Toonz, Jayakumar said that Toonz is working out a 75-million dollar project to bring out three big budget movies, each costing about 25 million dollars.

``We are holding talks with several foreign financial institutions on funding the ambitious project. All the films would be family and kids- oriented and would be mainly targeting the US market. While the pre- and post-production works would be done in the US, the production part would be carried out at our Technopark studio,’’ he said.

The ongoing works of Toonz include an animated movie `The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus’. The 12-million dollar project is scheduled to be launched by 2011 Christmas. `Gaturro’, a 90-minute 3D animated feature film based on the famous Argentine comic strip Gaturro, is scheduled to be released this November.

Works on the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer `Twinergy’, being directed by Priyadarshan, is also progressing, said Jayakumar.

Toonz, that was slightly affected by the recession, is now eyeing the Malaysian and Middle East markets.

“Both the Malaysian Government and the royal families in the Middle East are pumping in massive funds to the creative industry. With our rich experience in the animation industry, we hope to tap these markets,’’ said Jayakumar.

The works on our own campus at KINFRA Film and Video Park would begin soon, he added.