The hero from Dholakpur

In an age of globalisation where Disney and Japanese cartoons such as Doraemon have won the hearts of the country’s young television audience,this Indian animation series holds its own. With a protagonist who has no supernatural powers or eye-catching gadgets,Chhota Bheem is indeed,a unique animation series. Clad in a simple dhoti and deriving strength from eating laddoos,Bheem,the cherubic nine-year-old,makes for an unlikely hero at first glance and therein lies his appeal.

Set against the backdrop of an imaginary village called Dholakpur,populated by a motley mix of characters (from kings to talking monkeys),Chhota Bheem was launched in April 2008. In four years,it has had five successful seasons and the recent release of its first full-length feature film,Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan,has received positive reviews.

“Bheem is an intelligent,fun-loving boy who is always ready to help his friends (Chutki and Raju) and fellow villagers. Moreover,the storyline also has kings,queens,jungles and arch nemesis Kalia,adding to the action-adventure quotient. When the show was launched on Pogo,it became an overnight success; children adore the character and it now holds several titles to its credit including the ‘Kids’ Favourite TV Character’ (Ormax Media 2011 report),” says Krishna Desai,director-content,Turner International India.

For Rajiv Chilaka,MD and Founder of the animation company Green Gold that created Chhota Bheem,the show was a gamble. He stuck to a non-mythological theme,but also ensured that each episode offered entertainment with a message. “I realised that there was a dearth of original Indian content for children. With Western cartoon characters,there was no immediate connect and through Chhota Bheem,I wanted to fill this void,” he says.

The biggest USP of the show then is that young viewers can relate to its characters. “For instance,an elder brother will be able to identify with Bheem and the younger one with Bheem’s friend Raju. Also,young girls want to be as spunky as Chutki,” Chilaka says. Moreover,the show packs action-adventure and comedy in a simple story and doesn’t specify a particular time period,which gives the makers greater flexibility in terms of plot lines.

Desai points out that the show’s success has allowed Pogo to explore other avenues. “We have started co-producing TV movies based on the show. Some of them were aired last year and we have a more aggressive strategy for them this year. We will showcase one new movie every alternate month. In March,we aired Chhota Bheem: Dholakpur to Kathmandu and in May,we premiered Chhota Bheem aur Hanuman. Both were the number one programmes across all children’s channels,” he says,adding that the popularity of other characters in the show,like Bheem’s best friend Raju made them create a spin-off TV movie on him called Mighty Raju in 2011,which will be followed by Mighty Raju v/s the Great Pirate this month.

The franchise’s biggest venture till date has been Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan,which released this May. Considering the film’s relatively low budget (less than ‘ 4 crores),the less-than-sharp animation,and a limited release,the response has been “very encouraging”,says Chilaka,the movie’s director. “This was our first theatrical release so we took things slowly. But we plan to make more such movies and have bigger releases. Work has begun on the second movie and we hope to release it by year end,” he says.

Short movies and feature films aside,the launch of various merchandise also reflects the ambitious marketing plans for the Chhota Bheem franchise. Desai attributes the success of the channel’s website to the games,contests and videos based on the show. Chilaka,in two years,has set up a network of 16 Green Gold stores across the country that sell t-shirts,stationery,comics,DVDs and toys. “It makes perfect sense to cash in on the soaring popularity of the series. We are also launching a line of baby clothes shortly. But this is just the beginning and we have a long way to go,” he says.