Punyakoti - Teaser

Helping Miracles happen...

In 2014, A bunch of us decided to make the first Sanskrit Animated Movie, but did not know how to go about it. In 2015, Punyakoti became the largest crowd funded project of its type. In 2016, we won a special mention at the Social Media Empowerment Award 2016 for setting an example in crowd-funding. 

How did this happen? Because a lot of friends, relatives, colleagues and their friends, relatives and their collegues kept sharing about the project onFaceBook and Twitter. Soon animators, Sanskrit lovers, animation lovers, India lovers, music lovers, film buffs, students, film makers, plainclothes-philanthropists, the-silent-little-change-makers and folks of all shades and hues trickled in.

Someone knew someone who could help and we raised 41 lakhs that has helped us complete 30% of the production. All, at a fraction of the cost that it usually takes to make an animated movie.

And now you can help us reach that one co-producer or institution who can take our production to completion. In case you know a producer or institution, let us know. Else, all you have to do is to invite all your friends to 'like' thePunyakoti page. You never know, whom one of your friends may know. Your next click could make magic happen!

Help us out. Please....

How do I get what I want in life?

So many people ask me why I am making a movie. I have a decent job and good salary. Why would I undertake the risk of making an animated movie in Sanskrit when it is not even clear if anyone will watch it and on top of that, why do I want to crowd fund it. And how did I find the time and money to do what I want to do in life. And am I successful. Many also admit that they also want to do many things in life, but never find the time or money to do what they want. Yet, others say that they don't even know what they want to do in life. Here is a tip that I wanted to share, in case it helps someone. And if there are others that I don't know, share them with me.

One question that I asked myself (thanks to some coaching) was - if I had everything in life, what will I do? - To me, it was a list of things like learning Sanskrit, learning alternate medicine, learning about mural art, write books for children, making an animated movie, learning yoga. learning and composing music, painting etc. My coach asked me to start doing all of this without waiting until I got everything in life. He said life will eventually adjust around all these activities and then I will start to feel as if I have everything in life. After I started doing all of this, it dawned on that I will not be successful in many of the things that I am doing. Yet, they were things that I wanted to do. So I found fulfilment in what I was doing and not waiting for the results (success). I had earlier only read the message from the Gita about working without expectations of results and knew it only as a message. But today, I am not only practising it but also experiencing a certain 'completeness' of life.

I have tried to talk to people about my experiments and what I get. But few take the plunge. And over time I realised why others were struggling. And here is a mega secret tip. I realise the reason many never get to where they want to get is because they are using their own brains to figure things out. Our brains are good enough to survive. For getting beyond ourselves, we need good mentors and coaches. That is why the best of players have them and not the mediocre ones. So you want to get beyond what you know, follow someone else blindly who wishes well for you. Your smartness can only keep you safe and out of trouble - it is designed that way, don't use it to elevate yourself. It is like making your Chief Risk Officer as the CEO of your company.

Actress Revathy will render the Sanskrit voice of Punyakoti

Nice VFX work

Why 2D?

People ask me, "Why 2D?" - I know 3D is cooler. I know 2D is out of fashion. But to us in the team, 2D is more artistic than 3D and requires more skill. The skill to do 2D is rarer nowadays. Rather than traditional 2D, we have opted for a via media where we do computer aided 2D animation. But a lot of work is still hand drawn and it is visible in the output. It is a showcase of the artist. Much like the difference between a handloom vs. synthetic material, this is more fulling.

Zero Budget Movie Making - Well Almost

Heard from a Tamil movie maker (Arun Bose) about how to make zero budget (well, almost zero budget) at The Goa Project. Arun made a one minute clip to start his movie making journey. Emboldened he made a 30 minute movie (frugally) during his student days and now he has embarked on a full length feature.

He starts with a framework (a powerful one). The crew takes a bus to the location and modifies the script based on what is available in the location. Once they know what is to be shot, the actors arrive the next day. And everyone organically evolve the movie. The movie is 'Alaiyin Thisai' - check it out.

I see that there will be many more adventure seekers like us in the future.