Using animation to fight social taboos

Divya Sharma

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 6

Resolved to create a space for adult animation across all age groups through her work, city girl Sugandha Bansal is highlighting social issues through her animated movies. Her film, A Little More Blue, was chosen as best short film in animation category at the Iran Simorgh International Film Festival. The movie is an animated version of Bollywood screenplay on the life of writer Gazal Dhaliwal.

Gazal Dhaliwal is a trans-woman writer, who has penned down screenplay of many Bollywood movies, including Sonam Kapoor starrer ‘Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa laga’.

Sugandha Bansal, who holds masters in animation design from the MIT Institute of Design, said: “I wanted to do something for the LGBT community. Gazal was an apparent choice, hers is a story of acceptance, support, opportunities for transgenders.”

The four-minute-long movie is a story of a girl, trapped inside the body of a boy. Bansal has already made two movies on child labour and the importance of education for children. She has also received Riya Wadia Award at Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival in Mumbai this year and a cash prize of Rs.20, 000 for her latest release.

Bansal aims to break common notion associated with animation of mere graphics, designs for children. Identifying herself as animator, illustrator, and director, the 25-year-old is keen on promoting animation across the globe. “People still associate animation with cartoons. It has a wider range. The industry is growing, but people need to be educated and informed,” said Bansal. “People don’t understand that animation is not just about popular cartoons and designs. It is a powerful medium to talk about issues affecting adults and their concerns. It can present day-to-day affair in a different light,” said the 25-year–old girl, who is inspired by her academic mother Manisha Dhanuka.

Bansal advises budding animators to tread upon a path of self-learning and observe little things of life to bring a finish to their projects.

Bansal wants to create more independent movies and make animation relevant for the masses.