Last year, Ranjit Singh—Tony to his friends and colleagues—the Chief Creative Producer (Projects & Strategy) at Vaibhav Studios found himself running after Shri Apurva Chandra, ex-Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at CII Summit FX. A global summit on animation, visual effects, gaming, comics and immersive media where government officials were in attendance to discuss industry policy. And that’s where Singh chased Mr Chandra to hand him a brochure about their upcoming project, Return of the Jungle.   

Impressed by the story, they were advised to enter the film at the International Film Festival of India. Their debut feature inaugurated the animation vertical at the festival and went on to win the New York International Film Award and the ONIROS Film Award. An indigenous effort, the film is deeply rooted in cultural values. “It’s a wholesome, inspiring movie about children and their problems. We think a lot of people would resonate with the story.” Vaibhav Kumaresh, Founder and Creative Director of Vaibhav Studios, tells mid-day. He wasn’t wrong; it struck a chord with a large audience, indeed. This week, it was screened at the Marché du Films at Cannes—one of the only five films to be selected by the National Film Development Corporation.