MUMBAI: Hyderabad-based entertainment and multimedia solutions company DREAMS (Deepak Raj Entertainment and Multimedia Solutions) will be releasing its first animation film – Kutti Chetan and Friends – by December this year. The film has a duration of 100 minutes.

“The film will be a mix of 2D and 3D animation as per the story requirement. Maya, 3D Max software’s are used for character designs whereas for key locations we used traditional hand paintings. Pre-production work on the film with layouts and staging is over and work is currently on for production comprising the animation,” says DREAMS managing director and CEO Deepak Jadhav.

The movie has been made on a budget of Rs 120 million (Rs 12 crores) and will be released in six languages – Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bhojpuri and English.

Produced by Hyderabad-based realtor V Rajeshwar Rao, and co-produced and directed by Jadhav, Kutti Chetan is a story of a mischievous blue spirit with no memory of his legendary past.

“DREAMS’ business plan is to target the niche area of children as they have a major say in Indian household consumption patterns and hence contribute to the success of a movie. The film industry had traditionally shied away from peddling children’s films. Therefore, we treat this as an ill-explored genre having great potential for growth,” Jadhav said.

DREAMS is also working on two other projects titled Inside Me and The Trap. “We will be making these films on a budget of Rs 120 million each,” says Jadhav.

The story line, concept and the main character designing was done in India with in house artists. The pre-production is done in the company’s Philippines branch. The layout to animation for the film will be done in Manila, Philippines, and the postproduction and 3D part of the film will be done in India.

The movie has been directed by Jadhav, whereas the story has been co-written by Mark Zolve and Ashmith Kunder. Music is by Pritam Chakraborty, whereas lyrics are by Irshad Kamil. The songs have been sung by Kunal Ganjawala, Ravi Khote, and singers from Star Voice of India Chote  Ustad. Kunder has also edited the movie. The animation supervisor is Owell Mina.

The story is set in a household backdrop where a grandson comes to his grand father’s house for holidays and realizes that a treasure is hiding, which he wants to find. He confesses his desire to his newfound friend Yamini. They both set out to find the treasure not knowing the difficulties and the hindrances, which are waiting to welcome them.

Regarding the marketing plans for the film, Jadhav says, “We are looking at the various options of marketing but we have not yet decided because we are keeping quality as our first priority. At the same time we are in talks with major distribution companies.”

While the makers feel there is a scope for merchandising and licensing for the film, the details of the same have not been decided upon.