Sharad Devarajan and Jeevan Kang talk about visual animation grandeur and the influences of making something uniquely Indian on a greater scale
Everyone loves a fresh retelling of a myth, but The Legend of Hanuman, which streams on Disney+ Hotstar from January 29, comes from the hearts of comic-book aficionados Sharad Devarajan and Jeevan Kang. The co-creators explain, during a video call with MetroPlus, that they grew up on the stories of Hanuman who, for many, was a symbol of not just infinite power but also of wisdom and heroism.
Jeevan Kang, co-creator of ‘The Legend of Hanuman’
Jeevan says, “It is a story of how Hanuman is a hero not because of his power but despite it, making it more relatable and inspiring.” Sharad recalls, “These myths have been a profound part of my life growing up, as the characters were always part of something bigger and were larger than life for me, even as someone who loves comic books and superheroes.”
“It has always been a dream of mine to see how we could portray these amazing stories and histories in a way that was as visually spectacular and as narratively complex.” The co-creator of the series also explains that with the new forces of media that have developed, everything felt right to bring to a new life and to present on a global scale.
‘Labours of love’
Sharad, who connects from his home in New York, serves as a writer for the animated series Baahubali: The Lost Legend. He adds: “We always see the tip of the iceberg, but not the big iceberg body underneath! The character design was done by the team of our co-creator Charuvi P. Singhal who’s brought so much creativity. The behind-the-scenes work with all the hundreds of iterations of character design could be artwork in any gallery because of all the labours of love. In animation, especially in television production where continuity is necessary, it is very hard to go backwards so a lot of our direction is important because once it is locked and done with all the editing, feeling, music, it is done.”
Hanuman in ‘The Legend of Hanuman’ | Photo Credit: Hotstar Specials
The animation style shows the team wanted to be quite experimental, but in thoughtful measure to amplify the rich storytelling (narrated by actor Sharad Kelkar). Not wanting to ruin the surprises they have in store for audiences, Jeevan admits they were inspired by Kerala paintings and temple carvings, but that they also wanted to tap into their comic book artistries to ultimately create a new visual experience.
‘Groundbreaking feats’
The key here, Sharad points out, is that animation remains a medium rather than audiences associating it with children, adding, “There will be a new generation seeing animation in a totally different way, just like Hayao Miyazaki has done in Japan. In India, we are all about colour and cosmic depths, so we wanted to create an animation style that is uniquely Indian but also one that hasn’t been seen before, while also being reverent to the legend.”
Sharad Devarajan, co-creator of ‘The Legend of Hanuman’
Technology-wise, Sharad explains, “We experimented with a little motion capture, which has its own layers, in the early days, and we actually found animation was better. We even went with animation styles within animation styles. The technology today would not have been there had we tried to do this five years ago on television. This is one of the most groundbreaking feats in the scales of character design, music, and environments.”
He smiles as he adds, “our frames of reference included everything from Lord of the Rings to Star Wars!”
Storyboarding for the animation and storytelling was one of the biggest stages for The Legend of Hanuman. Jeevan explains the team used animatics (animated storyboards) to “make this a cinematic experience eschewing the preconceived notions of animation and mythology in India”.
Hanuman and Jambavana in ‘The Legend of Hanuman’ | Photo Credit: Hotstar Specials
He says, “Animation in film has been so segregated in India that the storyboarding of film versus the animatics of animation are separate, but we actually found a seamless way to tell a story in a more cinematic fashion more than we have seen before. In fact, animation for a long time in India had such a template-driven format that we had to break it down and bring it up from the ground since we wanted our actors to act, and not just voice-act.”
The Legend of Hanuman will stream on Disney+ Hotstar from January 29
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