Disney’s Kahaani Masters gets over 10,000 entries

Still from Kahaani Masters

By Priyanka Bhadani

The art of storytelling is an ever-evolving process. To add to that evolution is a new initiative by Disney India and Toonz Animation, Kahani Masters. The eight-month long campaign that kicked off in mid-July aims to be an encouraging platform for young creative minds.
The initiative that invited stories from kids aged 8 to 14 has received more than 10,000 entries in less than a month, informs P. Jaya Kumar, CEO Toonz Animation. Five stories from all the entries received will be selected and the kids will undergo a three-day animation workshop in September. The stories will eventually be turned into animated films to be telecast on Disney channel in January, 2015.
“All of us are storytellers. We can share them in really creative ways,” says Vijay Subramaniam, VP and Head – Content and Communication, Disney India Medianetworks, who narrates an interesting story behind his name, “Vijay” while talking to us. “It was this thought with which we kicked off the initiative that has got a huge response,” says Subramaniam, who thinks that every child is creative in his own way and that creativity needs to be brought to the fore.
Interestingly, Kumar has been running a similar initiative in Kerala along with the local channel, Asianet, since sometime now. He says that the initiative was a part to make animation popular as a part of the second anniversary celebration of Toonz Animation that is now 15 years old. “Over the years, we have seen kids coming up with interesting ideas which have been converted into animated films. The best part is that some of these movies have been awarded at international festivals,” says Kumar, who even this time around will send the five movies to festivals across the world so that the kids get a bigger platform to showcase their talent.