Delhi reimagined in India’s first anime-style feature film

If you have ever wondered what Delhi would look like through the dreamy hyperexpressive lens of Japanese anime two brothers from the capital are already drawing it frame by frameMohammed Zeeshan and Mohammed Danish cofounders of GD Productions are working on one of Indiarsquos most ambitious indie animated projects Titled Before Again it will be a twohourlong fulllength feature film or a 12episode series made in the Japanesestyle anime and set in Delhi Alongside this they are also building an animated satirical series Animal Courtroom where animals drag humans to court for crimes against natureThe studio founded in 2008 has been deeply embedded in Indian animation for over 15 years but something shifted recently ldquoWhat we have seen in the last two years is that the viewership for anime content has increased a lotrdquo says Zeeshan ldquoIndians are consuming global content but our own content for adults or middleaged people is missingrdquoFor the filmmakers Delhi made for a familiar settingSo the brothers decided to stop waiting for the right project and start making one GD Productions worked across 2D 3D and graphic design for years but since 2015 the studio has been exclusively working with 2D classical animation especially in a Japaneseinspired handdrawn digital styleBut Before Again is a leap into something bigger a twohour animestyle film inspired by Delhirsquos real locations culture and body language Danish who is the scriptwriter and director of the film explains ldquoJapanese anime is not about the style itrsquos about the feeling The style is more realistic with mature stories and themes Every style gives a different feeling so we adapt the style according to what we want the audience to feelrdquoAnd the story they want to tell is unmistakably Indian The story follows a young artist in Delhi who comes across a strange lantern He believes it might be the answer to fixing what feels broken in love and life At first its glow seems to heal what words and time cannot but the more he turns to its light he learns that using the lantern brings unexpected consequencesAnimal Courtroom is the mischievous cousin of Before AgainldquoWe chose Delhi because we know it better than any other city Wersquore planning to use real locations The metro stations flyovers old colonies even real signboards and fabricsrdquo says Zeeshan The details go down to character design ldquoHis hairstyle his dressing the thread in his handhellip All of these elements are distinctly Indianrdquo says DanishThe team is small with only 5ndash6 artists working on these passion projects and everything is selffunded The brothers laugh about timelines because animation is notoriously unpredictable but Zeeshan gives a ballpark ldquoIf itrsquos a movie two years If itrsquos episodic the first episode may take six monthsrdquoIf Before Again is an emotional animeinfused comingofage story Animal Courtroom is its mischievous cousin ldquoItrsquos a series for YouTube as of now because we donrsquot have fundingrdquo says Zeeshan ldquoThe concept is that animals bring humans to court and file cases The first episode is about plastic pollution Another is about zoos and asks are animals even happy thererdquoMohd Zeeshan and Mohd DanishDanish adds ldquoWe created our own style for Animal Courtroom The art and animation are Westerninspiredrdquo They hope OTT platforms pick it up but for now itrsquos a selffunded experiment with teethWhy did they choose to take on the task of selffunded projects The brothers simply say it was time ldquoPeople used to think animation is only for kids but thatrsquos changingrdquo says Zeeshan He points to the surge after Mahavatar Narsimha and the upcoming Baahubali animated filmHe adds that Indian TV has long been flooded with kidfocused cartoon content like Motu Patlu and Chhota Bheem which are great shows but only for a specific audienceIndia has long been an outsourcing hub servicing animation giants abroad But Danish believes that the chapter is closing ldquoIt was an outsourcing hub but in the future we donrsquot think so We will make our own IPs India will take directionrdquo he saysWhy didnrsquot it happen earlier Their answer is brutally honest ldquoWe had the talent but no demand And no investorsrdquoTo pull off Before Again and Animal Courtroom the brothers are hoping to receive funding soon If all works well this homegrown anime will signal that Indian animation is finally ready to tell its own stories its own way