A scene from ‘The Grandees’
Vijay Ashokan hated studies tirukural As a child. “We have to remember it and it was very difficult. Even if we made a small mistake while reading or writing it, we would be scolded.
In his childhood, memorizing ancient Tamil texts troubled Vijay a lot. He recalls, “I developed a hatred for this text and its author, Thiruvalluvar.” Fortunately, after schooling, he came across a translated version of the book which changed his perspective. “I realized how great he was and I understood the depth of his work.”
In 2024, and Vijay Ashokan, now a Chennai-based motion picture architect (specializing in film production, live action and animation), is coming up with The grandees, An animated web-series for children aged 3 to 6 years. It is scheduled to release on Reliance Animation’s YouTube channel later this month.
“Since the historicity of Thiruvalluvar is uncertain, there is a lot of mystery about what he looked like and what kind of person he was. What if he was a sweet, bubbly guy who loved kids? This is the idea I started with the grandees,reveals Vijay, whose VA Studio also works on videos for the Tamil Nadu School Education Department.
A scene from ‘The Grandees’ Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
the grandees It will show Thiruvalluvar traveling on a time-machine and arriving in 2024, where he finds children struggling to learn their craft. Each episode will be approximately 22 minutes long, with episodes dropping weekly.
He promises that it will be a lot of fun, and will also teach important life lessons. “Many parent groups we spoke to learned that their children were addicted to gadgets and so we developed the grandees As an informative, moral series with a funny story.
It will also bring to life some popular personalities of the past through animation to educate children about the people who made a difference in this world. “There’s Bruce Lee Ozukkam (discipline), for Muhammad Ali Pugazh (fame)And so on,” he says.
the grandees It is brought to life using 2D classical animation, including hand-drawn strokes. “Each art is hand-drawn and digitally animated using various software. Motion capture was used to capture details such as hairstyle. We didn’t want to use too much technology because it could dilute the creative strokes coming from the human brain.
The series was initially titled Mr. and Mrs. Thiruvalluvar Because apart from a princess and a science genius, his wife Vasuki also plays an important role in it. But this would mean limiting the audience to the Tamil diaspora, and so the makers decided to re-name it. “I don’t see it as an effort to promote the Tamil language,” Vijay explains, “rather, it’s to promote a Tamil that has words of wisdom that can be useful to your life, even if No matter what language you speak or what language you speak. Part of the world you come from.
Vijay Ashokan
Based on the response to the series, Vijay will work on another concept revolving around Thiruvalluvar, but aimed at discussing topics for the 6-9 age group. “The parents we pitched these ideas to were happy because the kids wouldn’t get addicted to them, but would learn a thing or two that would stand them in good stead throughout their lives.”
Episodes of The Grandkids will stream in Tamil on Reliance Animation’s YouTube channel (BIG Animation) in December, followed by Hindi and English versions in the following months. All episodes will be streamed on Amazon Prime Kids from April 2025.
published – December 10, 2024 11:56 am IST
