{"id":894,"date":"2023-03-24T06:25:32","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T06:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vfxcorner.com\/?p=894"},"modified":"2023-07-20T08:22:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T08:22:47","slug":"interview-with-rohit-kelkar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vfxcorner.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/24\/interview-with-rohit-kelkar\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Rohit Kelkar, Animator – “My Father’s Dragon”"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Meet Rohit Kelkar, an Indian 2D Animator working in the animation industry. Known for projects like My Father’s Dragon, Star Wars: Visions, Mum is pouring rain, and many more.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What made you get into the world of animation? \u00a0<\/h4>

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I\u2019ve been one of those kids who\u2019ve been drawing since ever and don\u2019t remember a time when it wasn\u2019t a constant. Growing up, I was utterly fascinated by cartoons and animated films. Disney being what it was back in the 90s, it had a huge impact on me. I watched a lot of Disney cartoons that aired at the time, like Disney Hour, Silly Symphonies, Duck Tales, Tale Spin, Chip n Dale, Timon and Pumbaa, etc. I would also scavenge for Disney\u2019s comic books and other merchandise, mesmerized by their rich and expressive drawings, and would emulate them in my sketchbooks.\u00a0 It was only much later in the 2000s that I saw my first Disney feature film, \u2018The Lion King\u2019 on a rented VCD, which completely blew me away. After we got a PC at home, my obsession went into overdrive and I would step through all the beloved Disney films frame by frame, and would draw what I saw.<\/p>

I would also dig through all the newspapers and magazines to relish all the cartoons by the likes of the incredible R.K Laxman, Ajit Ninan, Manjul; and also the syndicated comic strips like Calvin & Hobbes, Dennis the Menace, Garfiled etc. By then, I was also hooked on to Tinkle, a monthly comic magazine from Amar Chitra Katha, which I ardently subscribed to for a decade. The relatable characters and the Indian touch to it all also shaped my visual taste a lot. I would cook up a lot of my own characters and make small comics out of them.<\/p>

So, by the time I had finished schooling, it seemed quite obvious for me to pursue animation. I had no idea if we even had a sustainable animation industry in India, but all I knew was as long as I got to do anything around drawing characters for a living, I\u2019d be happy. Luckily for me, my parents have always been very encouraging and supportive of my artistic inclination, so I looked up the design schools in India offering animation training and started applying. Then one thing led to another, and here we are!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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