Making an animation film is not easy. Ritwik Das, a young animation filmmaker, knows that well. His short animated movies have been screened at several Indian and international film festivals and they have been well received. He also received a Special Festival Mention at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival in 2018.
Son of Pushpita Mohanty, Ritwik underwent training in animation filmmaking at the Arena Multimedia, Bhubaneswar. He has also learned at Frame Boxx in Bangalore and FX School of Mumbai. Ritwik has an animation film house named Scioptics Image Works in Bhubaneswar. The institution has produced some short didactic animated movies which have grabbed the people’s attention. Through his quality animation and creative presentation, Ritwik tries to communicate meaningful messages to generate awareness in society.
Starting his filmmaking career in 2017, Ritwik Das’s first animated film was Dhobola.
He said, “I grew up watching Walt Disney movies and, gradually, I felt I wanted to make something like that. Till now, I have produced five movies in my studio which have won awards at film festivals. Recently, I got the best director award for my short animation film Homeless Hero at the Sixth Indian Cine Film Festival in Mumbai, September 9, 2018. I got my first award for my film Dhobola at the 5th Indian Cine Film Festival in Mumbai and Sabas Cuckoo got an Honourable Jury Mention at the Noida International Film Festival. For the film A Chance too, I received an Honourable Jury Mention at the 2nd Indian World Film Festival held in Hyderabad. It was a great moment for me when I got a special mention for A Chance at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival held in Delhi. In 2018, my film Kindness received an Honourable Jury Mention at the Bangalore Short Film Festival.”
“In my films, I focus on generating awareness in society on issues like taking care of parents, disability, keeping forests clean, providing safe water and women’s issues. My first animated film Dhobola’s story was scripted by Dash Benhur which was translated into English by my grandfather Bikram Das. I discussed the plot with Subrat Bindhani, who makes all my animation films. My mother has been supportive of all my plans in every possible way. Dhobola is a six minute long animation film. The story is about a crane named Dhobola and the film’s message is about taking care of old parents and not abandoning them. River Tale is a film about how to use your cleverness when you are in trouble. A Chance is based on disability. Homeless Hero tells a heart-touching story and conveys the message that human beings should not turn a blind eye to any wrongdoing against women. Currently, I am working on a story about the right of every child to drink safe water for the Kallola film festival and am also planning to do a movie Smoking Kills. All these themes are very close to my heart,” added Ritwik Das.
“Since school days I have been reading fiction and periodicals. Cartoons, special effects and VFX interest me. It’s wonderful to create an animation film and there are many opportunities in this line of work. The one thing you need is creative thinking and dedication. I create my own concept. Sometimes, my grandfather and Dash Benahur help me in planning a film. Thanks to them and my sister Amrita Patnaik, who is also my inspiration, I am looking forward to doing more films with a message,” said Ritwik Das.
Bratati Baral, OP
