|
Manick Sorcar is elated. The Film Council of Greater Columbus,
Ohio, USA, has announced that his latest animation "Rule
of Twenty-One" is the Bronze Plaque winner at the 51st
Columbus International Film Festival. The Bronze Plaque award
is presented only to "productions of high merit, which
in the opinion of the judges will be effective and useful
contributions to their subject area. The international contest
attracted over 600 entries from throughout the world.
But then the accolade is no surprise for those aware of his
works for there is something magical about this man who traces
his ancestry to seven generations of magicians. Son of legendary
magician P C Sorcar and brother of the illustrious P C Sorcar
Junior , Manick aka Prafulla Chandra Sorcar mesmerises his
audiences as well- with his animation wizardry.
"Rule of Twenty-One" is based on "Ekushe-Aine",
one of the many verses from Sukumar Ray's famous book of nonsense
poetry "Aabol Taabol" in Bengali, which is Manick
Sorcar's second animation from the popular book. The first
was "Sniff", based on "Gandhabichar",
which won The Golden Eagle from the Council on International
Non-theatrical Events (C.I.N.E.), Washington D.C., and was
a Finalist in the Children's Program category at the 36th
International Film and TV Festival of New York. The premiere
of "Rule of Twenty-one" took place in Kolkata in
December last year, as a part of his show "Sorcarama",
which was a highly successful two-hour unique extravaganza
of laser-animation-live action in combination with computer-controlled
intelligent lighting. "I am immensely happy", says
Manick. "I grew up in Kolkata with Sukumar Ray's nonsense
verses and fell in love with them ever since I was very young.
I am glad that both my animation shorts have been able to
bring this priceless treasure of Bengal to an international
appreciation."
President of a US-based electrical engineering firm, which
has done lighting projects for the Denver International Airport,
Colorado International Center, Tobu Sports Center, Japan,
and the palace of Prince Faizal Bin Sultan of Saudi Arabia,
Manick is also an accomplished artist who slips into the role
of a one-man animation company at night. Mixing animation
with live performances, he produced children's videos from
the basement of his home in Denver, Colorado that won major
awards in the US in various festivals. It all started as an
attempt to inculcate Indian values in his two US-born daughters
before turning into an obsession.
"Actually there was an artist inside me waiting to come
out. I used to paint a lot even as a child with whatever medium
I had -be it water colour or acrylics. My artistic expression
found an outlet when I started helping my father on stage
as an assistant by painting the backdrops, playing the accordion
in the orchestra pit and doing innovative lighting effects,"
he explains.
Talk of animation and his face lights up as he goes into
the intricacies of film making. "It is a whole range
of complex process involving a lot of painstaking work. First
the storyboards have to be prepared by drawing each frame
by hand. Then the live shots are combined with the animation
on the computer to give the feel of a real life experience,"
he says animatedly.
You marvel at his abundance of energy when you consider that
Manick does all this after returning from a hard day's work
from office. Sometimes labouring into the wee hours of the
morning.
The eldest of the three Sorcar siblings, after graduating
with a first class degree in electrical engineering from the
Beneras Hindu University, Manick went to the US to do his
master's degree on a full tuition scholarship from the University
of Washington. He wrote his first book "Rapid Lighting
Design" while doing his internship with an engineering
firm. The book went on to win the book of the month award.
His next book "Energy Saving Lighting System" is
now used as a practical oriented text book at the University
of Colorado.
Sorcar made his foray into the "toons world" in
1984 with "East Meets West", produced by the American
Television , mixing his art work with music. In 1990, he produced
"Deepa and Rupa: A Fairy Tale from India" where
his elder daughter Piya had a leading role. Manick has an
interesting anecdote about the film. "I made the film
based on a story from Thakumar Jhuli (Grandmother's Tales)
and gave the title 'Happy Child, Sad Child'. My American friends
were appalled when they heard the title. 'Why make a discrimination.
A child is always a child. We should let a viewer draw his
own conclusion after seeing the film,' they said. Then only
I changed the title of the film to 'Deepa and Rupa'."
The film went on to win the Gold Plaque at the Chicago International
Film Festival, The Golden Eagle by the Council on International
Non-theatrical Events(CINE) , Washington DC, the silver and
bronze medals at the New York International Film and TV Festival,
the Claudy Award, Los Angeles and nominations in three categories
for the Heartland Regional Emmy Awards.
His next production "The Sage and the Mouse " based
on a story from the Panchatantra received the gold medal for
its music and silver medal for its animation at the New York
International Film Festival and the bronze plaque at the Columbus
International Film Festival. The chain of success continued
with Gandhabichar(Sniff) bagging the golden eagle by the CINE
and The Woodcutter's Daughter, based on a fable from Panchtantra,
emerging the finalist at the International Film Festival New
York.
The success of his films generated a surge of tributes from
school children and parents and offers from top animation
houses in the US. " I received lucrative offers from
Walt Disney and Hanna Barbara Productions that prompted me
to turn animation into full time careers," he gushes.
"But I declined them as I liked the independence of working
out from my basement, controlling all aspects of productions."
But hasn't he ever tried to fuse animation with magic? "
No. Not really. But my animations are my way of casting a
spell on the screen. The similarity lies in the thrill that
the audience experiences. May be, one day I could as well
incorporate some elements of magic with the help of my brother
(PC Sorcar) in one of my shows," Manick says with a twinkle
of his eye.
Manick has his eyes set on producing a 3D animation film.
"I am still working on it in my studio. If I succeed
, it will be the first of its kind in the world," he
boasts.
For one who has his finger in every pie (he is an artist,
engineer, lighting specialist, writer programmer, graphic
designer, writer and cinematographer. Phew!), Manick's zest
is infectious. He is the CEO of a flourishing engineering
firm, Sorcar Engineering Inc.
Manick considers the appreciation he received from the schools,
clubs, children and parents to be his greatest awards. "I
am frequently invited by schools to be a guest speaker or
as they call their 'mentor' to make presentation of my animations
which are regarded as cultural bridges between the East and
the West."
|
