Can an Indian animation film ever replicate the success of Hollywood’s The Lion King?

When a Hollywood animation venture like The Lion King inches closer to Rs 100 crore in India, it signals to the fact that the Indian audience have an appetite for animated content. But the scenario is not the same for home-grown animation films.

According to Anish Mehta, CEO, Cosmos Maya, an Indian animation studio, “An average family audience that goes to cinema once a month has the option to see Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan or an Aladdin. So, I don’t see why audience would see a Chhota Bheem movie or Motu Patlu, which is produced at a smaller budget. When for the same ticket price, I can see Shah Rukh Khan, Aryan Khan giving their voice to The Lion King that was made at around Rs 200 crore budget.”

“I don’t blame the audience,” he added.

And it would be right to not blame the Indian cinephiles because when a film appeals to them, they make sure to turn to the theatres.

Take the example of Harry Baweja’s Chaar Sahibzaade, released in 2014 that managed to double its investment with a collection of Rs 21 crore at a budget of Rs 10 crore.

However, the film was an occasional hit in the animation category.

Amit Sharma, MD, Miraj Cinemas, thinks that when it comes to animation, Indian films lack quality and low budgets are responsible for it.

For a good-quality animation film in India, studios spend nothing more than Rs 8-10 crore which is a fraction of the cost at which Hollywood films are made.

The 2016 release The Jungle Book was made at a budget of approximately Rs 122 crore. But the film in India alone pocketed as much as plus-Rs 187 crore.

2012 release Arjun: The Warrior Prince was made at a budget of Rs 7.50 crore, Chhota Bheem Himalayan Adventure was made at a budget of Rs 5.75 crore, Chota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan that released in 2012 was made with an investment of Rs 4.50 crore.

Despite the low budgets, the recovery has not been possible given the size of the market.

This is why Mehta says, “This case will continue till the time a project is created like Baahubali. “To that scale if someone can take the plunge until then I don’t see Indian films competing with Hollywood animation films in the near term.”

Even Cosmos Maya has ventured into feature film segment but Mehta said that it is more of a “brand building exercise to show that a television show has a feature film and that the benchmark is increasing, the quality of the animation is increasing. And eventually it is focused to television audience.”

He added that even the last Chhota Bheem movie (Kung Fu Dhamaka) did not work well. “This is the case since last 20 years.”

Hence, he thinks “It doesn’t make business sense when the content is not compelling enough to draw the audience at a mass level.”

The last Tamil full-length animation film, Rajinikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan (2014), failed to create a stir and collected only Rs 70 crore with a budget of Rs 125 crore.

A fan of both Rajinikanth and animation films said that Kochadaiiyaan failed at the box office despite a big brand name of Rajinikanth attached to the movie.

Although animation in Indian films may not be seeing traction at the box office, local animated content on television is growing at a steady pace.

A report by EY 2019 says that television comprises 65 percent of all animation in India, followed by film and digital at 15 percent.