Respect, revere, review

A still from The Legend of Hanuman

Making an offering based on mythological characters is tricky in India today. Of late, there have been many examples of people taking offence over representation of mythological figures on screen, citing religious sentiments. As he awaits the release of The Legend of Hanuman's third season, creator Sharad Devarajan says it is imperative to treat such stories with reverence. "As creators, we make sure our intention is to show reverence for these stories. Here, our pursuit was to be respectful to the original mythological characters, and to Hanuman's heroism. Also, we have a mythology advisor and experts who work with me and the writing team. They revisit texts, review everything to ensure we get the storytelling right," he says.

Stan Lee; (right) Sharad Devarajan

The third season, which features Sharad Kelkar's voice for Lord Hanuman, will stream on Disney+ Hotstar in January. Devarajan, who worked with the late Marvel comic creator Stan Lee for 20 years, says his mentor's advice aided him in creating the show. "Stan was one of the greatest creators in the world. He told me, ‘You should never create a story that's driven by market forces, or one that ticks the boxes for the audience. You should create a story from the heart.'"

While Indian animation has yet to see its watershed moment, Devarajan says the world has woken up to Indian stories, thanks to RRR (2022) filmmaker SS Rajamouli. "Indian cinema's history can be arguably defined as pre- and post-Baahubali because it [took the world] to a different type of cinema - it was wondrous, larger-than-life and rooted in a unique Indian story. RRR too benefitted from that. Rajamouli understands the value of world-building."