Roadside Romeo: Walt Disney’s First Hindi Animation

MUMBAI -  For the first time Walt Disney has made a film in Hindi. The release of ‘Roadside Romeo,’ the animation tale of a dog finding true love after being abandoned in a Mumbai slum, Friday, October 24, 2008, has hit international headlines. Made in co-production with Yashraj Films, ‘Roadside Romeo’ casts Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Javed Jaffrey.  Like a typical Bollywood film, it has songs and dances.

Roadside Romeo 2008New York Times says: With the animated dog’s-life feature “Roadside Romeo,” Bollywood continues its technological juggernaut. A co-production of Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Pictures, “Romeo” is something new under the Indian sun: sophisticated computer-generated animation that uses stars to voice the characters. But craftsmanship and Disney aside, “Romeo” is very much a conventional Hindi movie with a small-guys-versus-gangsters plot, song-and-dance sequences and film references galore.

The Guardian notes: It’s a marriage made in movie heaven. Bollywood and Hollywood, which have long peddled shared visions of chaste romance and unlikely friendships, today finally ties the knot with Disney’s first Indian-made animated feature film in Hindi: Roadside Romeo.

Being made in India meant the budget, thought to be $7m (£4m), was 15 times less than the average cost of Disney’s Pixar movies such as Ratatouille.

Mahesh Samat, Disney’s managing director in India, said: “India annually sees 3.6bn movie admissions ... [ticket prices are] expected to go up to 80 rupees [£1] in five years. Which means we are talking about a $7bn box office.”

Hollywood & Bollywood Connection:

• Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp signs a multi-movie deal with a top Bollywood producer.

• The actor Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment has a two-movie deal with Mumbai-based UTV. Also, UTV Motion Pictures has co-production deals with Walt Disney, Fox Searchlight and is also making its first solo Hollywood film.

• Indian billionaire Anil Ambani has invested $500m in Steven Spielberg’s new DreamWorks film studio.

• Disney, which has also bought a children’s Hindi-language television channel, is now eyeing regional films, as are NBC, Viacom, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers and Twentieth Century Fox.

• Sony Pictures Entertainment recently released its maiden Hindi film, ‘Saawariya’ (Beloved), while Warner Bros’ first, ‘Chandni Chowk to China’ is scheduled for release in early 2009, and Fox Star Studios is signing on Bollywood producers.

• Billionaire investor George Soros recently invested $100 million for 3 percent of Reliance Entertainment, part of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.

• Disney, NBC, Time Warner, Viacom and Sony Pictures have committed more than $1.5 billion to their local ventures.

• Reliance Entertainment earlier this year signed on eight Hollywood production houses including those of George Clooney and Tom Hanks to develop and co-finance films, and made headlines with a $1.5 billion deal with Steven Spielberg for a new studio.