Animationxpress.com has finally announced the nominations for the Golden Cursor Excellence in Animation Awards, instituted by CNBC TV18 and Arena Multimedia, to be held on 20th March 2008 at The ITC Grand Central Sheraton and Towers, Mumbai.
The awards have been instituted with the intention of recognizing excellence in the Indian animation industry and have been conceptualized with the objective of enhancing and shaping the future of the Indian Animation industry as it expands its foothold in the international animation arena.
There are two basic categories- students and professionals further divided into 15 categories. The preliminary screening of entries was done by the TV18 graphics and animation team and AnimationXpress.com, followed by the final selection by a distinguished jury of Indian Animation experts including Kireet Khurana of 2nZ, Ashish Kulkarni of Big Animation, AK Madhavan of Crest Animation, Suresh Seetharaman of Virgin Comics, Kedar Raut of R&H India and Salil Desai, Arena Multimedia.
Amongst the nominees are the ‘usual suspects’ – Rhythm & Hues for its two Alpenliebe commercials, Vaibhav Studios with an astounding 11 nominations, Prime Focus for XBox, Happydent White and Fevicol and Famous Studios. Dhimant Vyas has been nominated for the superbly crafted clay animation title sequence for TZP. There is also India’s first Tamil animated feature film Inimey Nanganthan (V4) which has earned 3 nominations.
Kanupriya Vijayvargiya whose “Aparajita” won at last year’s ASIFA Excellence in Animation Awards has been nominated as well in the student’s category. Then there are our ‘divine’ nominees – Green Gold Animation’s Krishna and Percept Picture Company’s Hanuman Returns. Gitanjali Rao’s beautiful film – Printed Rainbow has been nominated in the Animated short film (professionals) category.
Let us hope that these kind of awards motivate our animators to better themselves and also to shape their own unique identity and that of the Indian animation industry.
Here is the complete list of nominees: (Personally, I am rooting for Dhimant, Gitanjali and Kanupriya)
Best New Animation Style
1. Bad Egg – Big Animation
2. Shadow – IIT Powai
3. Levis Slim Fit – Famous Studios
4. Taare Zameen Par – Dhimant Vyas
5. Buladi – Vaibhav Studios
Best Animation Lyrics
1. Return Of Hanuman
2. Maa-Aa
3. Krishna- Makhan Chor
4. Galli Galli Sim Sim
5. Munna
Best Animation Background Score
1. Maa-Aa
2. Hey Krishna
3. Return Of Hanuman
Best Animation Music
1. Return Of Hanuman
2. Maa-aa
3. Krishna – Green Gold
4. Galli Galli Sim Sim
5. V4
Best Animation Sound Effects
1. Maa-Aa
2. Hey Krishna
3. Return Of Hanuman
Best Visual Effects In Animation Film
1. Hey Krishna
2. Return Of Hanuman
3. V4
Full Length Feature Film
1. V4
2. Krishna Makhanchor
3. Krishna In Vrindavan
4. The Return Of Hanuman
5. O God Ganesha
Best Animated PSA (Public Service Announcement)
1. Sand Castle – Metaphor
2. Use Condoms – Webel
3. Buladi – Vaibhav Studios
4. Chunnilal Papa – Famous Studios
5. UNICEF Meena – Graphiti Multimedia Pvt Ltd
Best Animated Short Film (Student)
1. Rain Dance – Vijay Kumar Armugam
2. Cyber Trap – Arena Multimedia
3. Arjun Mahabharata – Ajay Singh Suparia
4. Dada No Des – Deepa Choradia
5. Aparajita – Kanupriya
Best Animated Character
1. Simpu – Vaibhav Studio
2. Birthday Bhoot – Vaibhav Studio
3. Channel V Bai – Star India Pvt.Ltd.
4. Ooga Booga – Vaibhav Studio
5. Krishna – Anirights – Big Animation
Best Animated Channel Id / Promo
1. Symphonick – Vaibhav Studios
2. Santa & Banta In Goa – Star India Pvt Ltd.
3. Birthday Bhoot – Vaibhav Studios
4. Ooga Booga – Neo Sports – Vaibhav Studios
5. Channel V Bai – Star India Pvt.Ltd.
Best Animated Short Film (Professional)
1. Maa-Aa – Animagic India
2. Bad Egg – Big Animation
3. Printed Rainbow – Gitanjali Rao
4. Lost – Makrand Joshi
5. The Game
Best Animation Sequence In Film
1. Taare Zameen Par (3 X 9) – Vaibhav Kumaresh
2. Tara Rum Pum – Tata Elxsi, CL
3. Cash – Graphiti
4. Partner – Sohail Khan Productions
Animated Title Sequence Film TV
1. Taare Zameen Par – Dhimant Vyas
2. Eklavya – The Royal Guard- Animagic
3. Galli Galli Sim Sim – Miditech
Best Animated TVC
1. Levis Slim Fit – Famous Studios
2. Chulbuli – Vaibhav Studios
3. Cadbury Wowies – Vaibhav Studios
4. Amaron 3 – Vaibhav Studios
5. Diamond Is Forever – DTC – Famous Studios
Best Animation Voice
Chetan Sashital
Best Animation Live Action Combo
1. Alpenliebe 1 – Rhythm And Hues India
2. Alpenliebe 2 – Rhythm And Hues India
3. Xbox – Prime Focus Plus
4. Happydent White – Prime Focus Plus
5. Fevicol – Prime Focus Plus