Monkey Business

But propaganda as entertainment has always been a bad idea. ‘‘All I wanted to do,’’ says the JJ School of Arts grad, ‘‘was to make a large scale animation film for children.”

Samant finally quit his job in 1989, got associated with the Children’s Film Society of India for a while, before moving on to establish his own animation company, SilverToons, in 1995. Today, after about 50 long years, he awaits the release of his ‘‘large-scale’’ film, Hanuman, India’s first indigenous animation movie.

‘‘Hanuman has size, magical abilities and is a good role model,’’ says Samant, ‘‘all essential in entertainment for kids,’’ betraying his still very ’70s, un-Bart-Simpsonised sensibilities.

But unlike other one-dimensional portrayals of the simian god, Samant says his Rs 4 crore, 90-minute film, produced in association with Sahara One and Percept Picture Company, is not all about the faithful-devotee aspect of Hanuman’s life.

Samant’s baby Hanuman is a pudgy, smashingly endearing kid, unburdened by the loyalty that was to dominate the rest of his life.

Samant, a three-time national award-winner, went through every version of the epic—from Valmiki’s to the Kamba Ramayana—to flesh out the mythological character’s childhood.

Hanuman’s birth was a momentous occasion, necessitated by a cosmic snafu. ‘‘Most people think he is the wind god’s son, but actually, Hanuman is an avatar of Shiva.’’ Shiva, who was present at the child’s naming ceremony disguised as a holy man, was the one who named him Marut or wind.

‘‘Do you know,’’ says Samant, with grandfatherly adoration, ‘‘Hanuman was a very mischievous kid, as bratty as Krishna.’’

But even he had to grow up. ‘‘We have tried to incorporate things about him that were not known earlier,’’ says Samant, who takes assertive pride in pointing out that the film is an all-Indian effort.

‘‘Over 160 people, including artists and animators, have worked on the film, and everything has been done in-house,’’ he says, of the movie that is scheduled for a month-end release.

And that sense of self-reliance has always been a big driver. ‘‘When I used to go abroad on work, people would ask me about animation in India,’’ says Samant. ‘‘I didn’t have much to say then, now I’ve finally got an answer.’’