The Kochi-based animation studio behind ‘Lokah’

The Lokah - Chapter 2 announcement is rather the teaser, adding to the play is the animation which has a distinct, graphic novel-like quality. It is melodramatic and has generated a buzz of anticipation for the adjacent chapter. For the squad of a Kochi-based animation studio, Eunoians Studio, tucked distant successful a bylane successful Edappally, it is simply a root of pridefulness and joy. They are the squad down the animation successful Lokah - Chapter 1 Chandra and the Chapter 2 announcement. 

This is simply a large infinitesimal for Eunoians, founded successful 2014 by classmates astatine C-DiT (Centre for Development of Imaging Technology), Thiruvananthapuram. While Lokah has catapulted them into the large league, gaining them monolithic vulnerability and praise globally, they besides precocious won the Grand Prix successful Animation astatine the MADDY’s (Madras Advertising Club Awards) for their enactment successful Bramayugam (2024). The founders — Azeem Kattali, Seerow Unni, Imodraj Mohanamani, Rajesh Velachery, Mithun Krishna, and Jeroy Joseph — are, understandably, connected unreality nine. “The effect to our enactment is mode beyond our expectations. We are overwhelmed by the response, we don’t what is happening! We spot it arsenic a reward for our struggles of the past 10 years!”

All but Jeroy were classmates astatine C-DiT wherever they met erstwhile they came unneurotic to survey animation aft graduation. “It means beauteous thinkers and we similar connection play. It is 1 connection successful English which has each the vowels!” Azeems explains what Eunoians means. 

Lokah, which precocious crossed the ₹300 crore people successful planetary container bureau collections, is inactive being analysed and 1 of the hotly discussed aspects are the Easter eggs buried successful the rubric cards. The 26 frames created by Eunoians are loaded with hints, clues and suggestions, the references are cleverly embedded. Equally stunning are the flashback sequences. Animation successful the movie complements the action, ne'er erstwhile taking distant from the travel of the narration, organically taking the communicative forward.   

“Lokah was the full package. Usually, we travel into the picture, literally, successful the pre-production phase. But for this movie we came successful the post-production phase. The Easter eggs person travel up for overmuch discussion, which means radical watched the movie carefully. We wanted to show, via the rubric sequence, that determination is truthful overmuch much to the satellite than meets the eye…that it extends mode beyond what we tin spot and perceive,” says Azeem. And to that end, the Eunoians person done their job; astir 30 artists from the squad worked connected the film.

The full team, Azeem says, was capable to lend much than a regular animation workplace due to the fact that “we are not conscionable animators, they are artists, question graphics artists and different aspects of what goes into this work.”  

The grandeur of the ‘Lokah’ beingness

Lokah starts — courtesy the rubric animation — with a definite grandeur and extent which communicates the vastness of the beingness it inhabits. Although sometimes it gives disconnected anime-like vibes, Balaram J, an Eunoian, who was the originative manager of the Lokah animation, says, “For the rubric animation and flashback sequences, we were given, arsenic references, works specified arsenic Rembrandt’s paintings. We were to springiness the works a consciousness of grandeur, an epic-like look.”  

The task came to Eunoians via the post-production supervisor of the film, Ajmal. “We were successful changeless treatment with the manager Dominic Arun, the manager of photography Nimish Ravi and editor, Chaman Chakko during the pre and post-production stages of the animation. Before we started work, this team, including Ajmal dropped into the workplace and sermon the full communicative and amusement the visuals of the film…that is however the archetypal discussions took place.” 

Even arsenic radical were unpacking Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, came the announcement teaser of Chapter 2, which is adjacent much melodramatic than what we saw successful Chapter 1.

“For the announcement teaser, the little was that it had to beryllium much melodramatic and the animation had to beryllium grander than the rubric series of the archetypal film. It had to consciousness cinematic due to the fact that the villain was being ‘established’ and it had to beryllium goosebumps-inducing. The visuals had to beryllium specified that the assemblage could consciousness however almighty helium is. We weren’t told what to do, but the last merchandise evolved implicit discussions with the team,” Balaram adds. 

“We archetypal created the benignant frame, erstwhile we got the support we did the storyboard and the animatics” The benignant frame, Balaram explains, is the look and consciousness of the animation, successful bid to springiness an thought of how it would look, the textures and its colours. “Though the references successful the little to america mentioned classical painters and styles, we tried to make our ain benignant taking inspiration from these.”   

Azeem says, “Our connections are each connection of mouth, with our enactment getting noticed and radical coming to us.” Bramayugam and present Lokah came that way. While the erstwhile made radical beryllium up and instrumentality notice, their enactment successful Lokah is of different league. In presumption of work, it has translated to companies approaching them with a clearer knowing of their portfolio.

This is large for the animation studio. Apart from commissioned work, they were into animated and static stickers, shareable contented for platforms similar WeChat, Hike and Skype too others. Their past works see partition creation for FIFA U-17 World Cup (2017), Crossover Stories (Kerala Tourism), and the Corona consciousness video for the Kerala Government too others.

If you person seen the signature films of accumulation houses specified arsenic Mammootty Cinema Kampany, Blessy’s Visual Romance oregon Soubin Shahir’s Parava Films, and astir precocious Basil Joseph Entertainment…they are each by Eunoians.  

The large interruption with ‘Bramayugam’

The speech is incomplete without talking astir Rahul Sadasivan’s 2024 movie Bramayugam which fundamentally got their enactment noticed and the animation became a talking constituent astatine the clip of its release. Azeem calls the movie 1 the Eunoians’ favourite/memorable projects. “I’m not saying this due to the fact that the movie went connected to go a immense hit, we person felt truthful close from the get-go. Rahul gave america the thumbnail sketches, similar a storyboard. Like helium had a wide thought astir what helium wanted and however helium wanted to narrate the story, helium knew what helium did not want. We were fixed the state to research the aesthetic portion of the occupation entrusted to us. The main situation for us, and the brief, was that erstwhile unrecorded enactment is interspersed with animation, the assemblage shouldn’t disconnect. We were capable to successfully bash it which enhanced the project.”  

Until Bramayugam, Azeem says, they ne'er had the accidental to research an retired of the container project. “It was 1 of our first: we were arsenic anxious arsenic we were excited. But we were capable to propulsion it disconnected by utilizing aggregate techniques — 2D and 3D animation, accepted animation, composting techniques — you could accidental that we developed a style, from scratch, for this film. Doing it successful achromatic achromatic portion ensuring that determination is nary dilution of quality? We did it.” 

They person a mates of films connected manus — Rahul Sadasivan’s Pranav Mohanlal-starrer Dies Irae and the Arjun Ashokan-starrer Chatha Pacha, directed by Advaith Nayar.

Despite being portion of films, Azeem insists that they don’t privation to presumption themselves arsenic a cinema-only company. “We privation to onslaught a equilibrium successful that we person a mixed portfolio, which inlcudes moving connected and with authorities projects, NGOs, advertisements, fintech, edutech, healthtech and of course, firm clients. We don’t privation to absorption solely connected the amusement business,” says Azeem. They person worked with WHO, UNDP, WWF isolated from corporates specified arsenic Medimix and V-Guard. 

They garbage to beryllium boxed in. And that is the mojo of Eunoians’ occurrence and longevity. They pridefulness themselves connected their adaptability, “We volition bash immoderate benignant of enactment related to our field. It is lone that cinema has made america famous!” Azeem says arsenic helium signs off.