Recently CG centric films like Spiderman and Shrek 2 have given stiff competition to our Hindi heroes. Now, we have Disney's The Incredibles not competing with, but actually collaborating with, superstar Shah Rukh Khan to woo audiences.

Hum Hain Lajawab, the Hindi dubbed version of The Incredibles is to have SRK lending his well known voice to Mr Incredible, the lead character of the film. The voice cast also boasts of the versatile Javed Jaffrey, Rakshanda Khan and SRK's son Aryan.

Will Shah Rukh Khan's dubbing for the forthcoming Disney/Pixar feature mark the opening of the floodgates, for animation to flow into the mainstream? That's the big question in the mind of many in the Indian animation industry.

There are reasons to be optimistic. Firstly, the emerging multiplex culture has facilitated wider playability for animation features. Audience exposure to and liking of International fare has gone up. If one looks at the B.O collections for CG features over the past year, there are indications that Indian audiences are acquiring a taste for CG & animation. Now add to that, the irresistable charm of King Khan, and things appear evn more rosier.

How far does all this go? Come December and we shall know.

Columbia Tristar, the distributor of the Disney flick has rolled up its sleeves for the marketing & promotional activity. Speaking to Animation 'xpress, Columbia Tristar Marketing Manager Divya Pathak pointed out that,"If compared to the way it does in the developed markets, animation hasn't been faring that well in India."

Divya also pointed out the many challenges that face the growth of animation in our country.

No1.Globally animation is seen by everyone. In India the perception is that animation is for kids only.

No2. Indians have grown up on a diet of live action

No3. Even kids thrive on bollywood fare, there is nothing special made for them.

No4. Costs of taking a kid to the theatre with family is much higher than letting the kid watch cartoons on TV which are free.

No5. While English speaking audiences appreciate and see value in taking a kid to the theatre for an animated feature, the hindi speaking audiences do not understand the kind of top quality animation a feature has in comparison to the cartoons on TV.

"We are looking to meeting these challenges. The problem lies not in creating awareness for an animated feature but in converting that awareness into footfalls. A known face is needed to sell a movie. In animation you can't add a known face to the cast, so we gave it a voice. Voice is a strong human connect in animation. SRK is one of the most popular guys around, he is a kids icon, a family icon and with him dubbing for the feature we are looking at a whole lot of additional audiences queuing up for the film" said Pathak.

"We hope that this helps open out the market to build animation as a category. This, according to us, is the real crossover when SRK is actually starring in a Hollywood movie." she added.

"Talking about the movie Divya informed,"The Incredibles are a family of super heroes, they are born with super powers. Because the medium is animation the incredulous action in the film is fun to watch. The high quality CG and animation in the movie makes you forget that you are watching an animated film"

"Mr Incredible has super strength, Mrs Incredible (Formerly miss elasticity) is a super mom, a super wife and has amazing flexibility and can stretch to any given lengths.They have three kids - Violet, Dash and Jack Jack. Violet can become invisible at will and can create invisible protective walls around her while Dash has super speed."

"The citizens start filing law cases against the Incredibles and the law makes them give up their powers and lead ordinary lives and so Mr Incredible becomes an insurance agent."

"Syndrome is the villan and is called Sankee Maan in the movie - Jaaved Jaffrey has adapted the dialogues in Hindi. Frozone is another of the vile men in the story - he is barfeela in the hindi version - Another interesting character is Edna Mode. She is a page 3 kind of socialite who used to design all the costumes for the Incredibles when they were superheroes. In Hindi she is Edna Modey. The director of the movie Brad Bird has voiced the original Edna" she added.

A lot of marketing and promotional tie-ups are in the pipeline for the movie.
Of the many co-branding deals and cross promotional deals being planned around the movie, two have already been put in place.

Says Pathak, "McDonalds has a global tie-up with Disney for merchandising. Following the huge popularity that the Nemo merchandise enjoyed, the fast food major is excited about The Incredibles too. Other than the merchandise we also plan to have The Incredibles birthday bashes at McDonalds"

"We have also tied up with Cadburys, wherein Cadburys' Gems' cartons and tubes shall carry jumbo stickers and there will be a special box (like celebrations) which will carry a 50 piece The Incredibles jigsaw puzzle," Pathak adds.

There are also plans in place to have garments based on The Incredibles costumes at Pantaloons. As the release date draws near, the distributor plans to increase its main media thrust and couple it with a flurry of on ground events and below the line activities.

"The Disney name has a certain equity with Indian families, Disney stands for moral values and because of that we have a lot of schools for whom we arrange special screenings," says Pathak.

Comparing the marketing and positioning activity involved for films with that of brands she says, "There are brands like Kellogs that have broken into traditional homes and markets replacing the traditional breakfast. The difference between such a brand and a movie is that while the marketing of a brand can happen over a long period of time, the marketing and positioning of a film has a limited time frame"

In terms of animated features, Columbia had a very good 2003 with Finding Nemo, Jungle Book 2 and Lion King Imax format all doing very well at the box office.

Nemo released with 40 prints and grossed Rs 18 million. "We are planning 80 prints for The Incredibles and the figure might just go up depending on the heat generated by the promotions," says a confidant Pathak.

"With Toy Story, Pixar took viewers into the world of toys, with A Bug's Life into the realm of insects, Finding Nemo they took us undersea and now with The Incredibles Pixar shall take the viewers into a land of super heroes," she concludes.

Be it bollywood bonanzas or Hollywood fare, animation as a category has a lot to compete with in India. SRK has lent his voice to this Disney flick, will he lend his box office charms too?

- Anand Gurnani