Seen+Noted: Arjuna The Archer
This spot won a Silver for Film and Bronze for Film Craft at Adfest this year and last week won a Silver at India’s Goafest.
A short film initiative to revive the Lost Art of Patta Chitra Katha. This became a campaign that refreshed a thousand year old traditional folk art of storytelling in the original visual language, featuring exotic illustrations of characters from ancient Indian Mythology, hand printed on sun dried patta leaves. View the commercial.
The illustrative process involves mixing tamarind seed paste with rice powder and applying it on the patta leaves to create the canvas. And then finding fine natural brushes that are dipped in vegetable colours to imprint each image. 4320 Patta Chitras were hand crafted in the making of this first ever handmade version of The Great Indian Yellow Pages.
In the spot Arjuna the Mythological Archer from the epic “Mahabharatha” decides to use his expertise in archery to strike the business bullseye with his quiver of internet arrows. He moves up from a cycle to a bike to girlfriend to wedding to car to house to bigger house to kids to family, all the while shooting arrows at the bullseye in the sky, in a vivid story that simplifies online yellow pages and encourages online transactions through the life of Arjuna in today’s world.
Credits:
Executive Creative Director: Senthil Kumar
Copywriter: Senthil Kumar
Art Director: Suresh Eriyat
Illustrators: Original Artists Orissa, Famous Animation Team
Director: Suresh Eriyat
Music: Jolly Joseph
Producer: Sharath Shankar
Prod. House: Famous House Of Animation, Mumbai
5 Comments
The best of Indian film work has a very Indian charm and culture behind it. It’s a shame with Indian print work that they fall into the ‘international’ Cannes look of art direction.
This is not indian culture. This is best use of some random old Indian art style to win an award. Never seen this film on air in India. And what on earth has promoting ‘the lost art of whatever…’ has got to do with a yellowpage kind of website???
You are being very hard 10.03.
As indian films go, this is in the top 5% so should be applauded.
Agreed 10.04. But “a film to revive the lost art of patha chithra katha??!!”… Really?? Reminds me of the famous old ad from copy book: “Here’s a dead dog. Where’s my award?” Now we’re moving on to “here’s an old drawing style i want to pass off as our lost culture to foreign jury – where’s my award?”
You think a yellowpages gives a hoot about patha whatever etc? It’s never seen on Indian TV. I am not saying it’s a bad film – I am saying dishonesty is being taken to new levels in Asia’s hunger for metals & have crossed over from print to expensive films as well.
Its a beautifully executed animation, and an interesting idea. Im thinking this will win big.