We are indeed living in a momentous period for Indian animation. Qualitatively, Indian animation is on the verge of breaking the jinx with mediocre attempts of Hanuman, Krishna, and Ganesha features. Without a shred of doubt, we can agree that Roadside Romeo's not so great response at the box-office has impacted animation projects significantly. Add to it the current recession due to which big players like UTV and others have pulled the plug on some very prestigious animation features which were significantly underway. Roadside Romeo was the turning point in the animation industry as it set an unmatched qualitative benchmark for Indian animation. The animation industry's success largely depended on the success of this film, which has sadly not pulled off.

I speculated some years ago that in the future, Indian animation would enter a new era through two possible scenarios. Firstly, the entire industry gets caught in the quagmire of servicing the rest of the world and continues to be enslaved as the huge back-office by international projects. Secondly, India would generate strong infrastructure and manpower resource out of the service contracts and come into its own with qualitative indigenous efforts to build IP content and brands that would serve as the launching pad, perhaps even for an overseas market.

Wisely, or due to the failure of a workable business model in outsourcing, we have fortunately chosen our destiny to go the IP route. With over 71 animated features announced, it did not seem plausible that more than six to seven of these announced movies would ever see the light of the day. I was mistaken because as many as 20 odd movies are lined up for release in the near future. With a number of qualitative animation features well underway in the pipeline with biggies such as Eros, Yashraj, Dharma, UTV, and others all slated for 2008 end/2009 release, the future is indeed here.

One must come to terms with the reality that animation has become a commodity and is getting cheaper by the day. No longer is it the domain of selected few elite studios. Manpower is adequately available at a reasonable price and features will henceforth get qualitatively better. But no one should take success of animated movies as a give-in; a painful reminder of that will be the debacle of Hanuman Returns, Ghatotkach, and some lesser known films in the recent past.

So, what does all this mean for the future of the animation industry? As the audience matures in the next one year and the bar is raised to a reasonably high level, there will be a rationalization of the number of animated movies that will be made each year and which would get decent distribution and release. My speculation is that not more than six to eight animated movies a year will be the norm from 2010 onward. Even in this, the success rate is going to mirror the success percentage of live-action movies. Indian movies typically have only 15 percent success rate and the same benchmark will apply for animation films.

I have been fortunate to get sneak peeks into the slates of some of the touted animation features due for 2009 release. Let me state one fact - they represent an increasingly qualitative leap for Indian animation. I am absolutely certain that after 2009, there will be no place for mediocre animation features in this country. In fact, with Roadside Romeo's mediocre performance at the box office, there has been a paradigm shift and animation as a genre is no longer being positioned uniquely. The audience is not thronging the multiplexes to see an Indian animation movie, even if qualitatively well crafted, until and unless it has a good story to tell.

So, which movie will win future audiences? Execution being a give-in, there are only three most important elements in a movie - story, story, and story. Unfortunately, India still lacks expertise in this domain. Most writers think and write within the live-action matrix. A number of production houses are still churning out the mythos and known public domain stories without adaptations, no original ideas or thinking. In the end however, the movie with the superior storytelling skills (backed with right marketing monies and skills) will make it to the finishing line. Alternatively, there is another view that there are no bad stories, only bad storytelling. Either way, content will be the king; the quality of execution and narration will ensure that the film is a winner. Star-power and star-voices will not help boost fortunes of the film significantly as much as a good story and strong marketing.

The future of Indian animation has been re-written already and has changed forever. We must now gear ourselves for new challenges and realities. With all the hype surrounding animation coming to an end, the future doesn't seem as bright either as it once appeared at a distance. As the box-office failure of Roadside Romeo would reiterate, we desperately need writers and storytellers if the animation genre has to become bankable.