Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose – the name shines brighter than most others, in the history of India’s freedom struggle. The nation today, 23 January, is celebrating the 123rd birth anniversary of the legendary freedom fighter. 

Born in Cuttack, Odisha in 1897, Bose was the Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India. His ‘never say die’ spirit and call for freedom – “Give me blood, I’ll give you Freedom” and “ Dilli Chalo”, boosted the youth to plunge into the liberation struggle. 

Bose had been a leader of the younger wing of the Indian National Congress in the late 1920s and 1930s, rising to become Congress President in 1938 and 1939. He was the key person to form the Indian National Army (INA), with the help of Japanese support, consisting of the then composed of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army who had been captured in the Battle of Singapore.

On his birth anniversary today, the nation celebrates his courage, valour, contribution and sacrifice for India’s independence. Comic artists and illustrators too are no exception. Here are a few of them :

Comics by Satra – Satrajit Choudhury

Channeling his emotions, Choudhury told Animation Xpress, “In the current age, we tend to worship heroes but forget their ideals. I wanted to pay respect to the idea of freedom which Netaji believed in, stood for and lived his entire life for. This is why I chose to depict the flag of Azand Hind Fauj, and not the man himself, in my cartoon. To respect the ideals, more than the idol.”

MAli’s – Mahfuj Ali

Said Ali to Animation Xpress, “We have seen politicians who won election and from the next day they are busy campaigning for the next election and growing in power, money and corruption. But as we have read Netaji and his wisdom. It truly felt honest, i think that is the only thing we seek from our politician. honesty and working for what they are supposed to do. That is why we still need him. For Freedom from corruption, for freedom against all the irregularities.”

BOB_ALMOST and ALMOST_BOBBY – Saswata Mukherjee and Susruta Mukherjee

“The policies of the current government is against the ideals freedom fighters like Subhas Chandra Bose and Shah Nawaz Khan fought for. So we imagined him and his commander Shah Nawaz Khan raising their voices against the divisive forces of the government,” added Saswata.

The text in the artwork has been taken from Varun Grover’s poem Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayenge.

Arko Chakraborty 

Apart from the comic artists and illustrators, India’s one of the most loved animated characters, Chhota Bheem too took to Twitter to pay a tribute to this National Hero.

A Grand Salute to our #NationsHero #NetajiSubhashChandraBose on his #123rdBirthAnniversary!

Let’s remember him for his greatest contribution in India’s freedom struggle. #NetajiJayanti #Netaji #INA #IndianNationalArmy #AzadHinfFauj #23rdJanuary1897 #JaiHind #ChhotaBheem pic.twitter.com/aLGnACdYNA

— Chhota Bheem (@iamchhotabheem) January 23, 2020

Bose and the circumstances surrounding him, still remains a matter of mystery and piques curiosity and debates. So much so that, global streaming platform Amazon Prime Video is coming up with a new original series, The Forgotten Army, based on true events and journey of many young men and women, who fought for the country’s independence as part of the INA, led by Netaji himself. The series is directed by Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame Kabir Khan.

This comes after acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Srijit Mukherji made a film titled Gumnaami in 2019 based on the Mukherjee Commission Hearings that traces the mysterious death or disappearance of Bose and his identity as the suspected Gumnaami baba. Noted actor Prosenjit Chatterjee played the role of Netaji and the alleged Gumnaami baba.

Rajkumar Rao too played Bose in the recent times in Bose: Dead or Alive, an Indian historical period drama web television miniseries based on the book India’s Biggest Cover-up by activist Anuj Dhar that was released on JioCinema at ALTBalaji on 20 November, 2017. 

Well, Bose still runs in our blood and acquires an irreplaceable position in our hearts.

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Streaming platform, MX Player has gone to become the #1 Breakout Video Streaming App of 2019 in India, surpassing Hotstar, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and JioTV, as per the State of Mobile 2020 report by App Annie. 

After its launch in 2019, the platform has dominated the market in terms of time spent on Android phones among Entertainment or Video Players and Editors, the research firm states.

According to the report, globally, consumers spent 50 per cent more sessions in Entertainment apps in 2019 as compared to 2017 with India seeing a staggering 80 per cent increase in the amount of time consumers spent on Entertainment apps.

Additionally, the report states that the competition in the video streaming space will boost up better user experiences as well as better and much more diverse content to drive growth in downloads, usage and revenue.

Further, high-quality streaming, growth in user-generated content, and offline mode becoming standardized were industry advancements that helped tip the scales from screen size to on-the-go viewing.

The report noted that the competition in the video streaming space will strengthen better user experiences to drive growth in downloads, usage, and revenue, and ultimately lead to partnerships and consolidation to win the wallets of consumers long term.

Karan Bedi

MX Player’s focus on 360 degree entertainment has driven the platform to an enviable position in India’s over-the-top (OTT) video entertainment segment.

Commenting on the success, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi, CEO said, “We are very excited to have come this far in such a short time. This has been on the back of great content like Queen and Hello Mini as well as a great product. Our aim has always been to emerge as the preferred destination for all things entertainment; along with offering premium video content, we were the only app to introduce music streaming as well. We’re now adding other avenues of entertainment to the platform – the beta launch of our gaming feature has received tremendous response and given how gaming has become mainstream in India in the last two years, it was a natural fit for our audience. Here on, our plans include expanding our footprint in international markets as well.”

Currently, MX Player has 280 million MAUs globally and 175 million MAUs in India. 

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Animation studio Salamandra.uk CEO Christine MacKay has gained a position in the f-entrepreneur’s #ialso Top 100 list, which celebrates the UK’s inspirational and multi-achieving female entrepreneurs.

The aim of f:Entrepreneur is to showcase multi-achieving women like MacKay in the #ialso100, to provide lessons of challenge and success for all small business founders – both men and women.

 The campaign is built around a programme of content, stories and events including roundtables, Q&A sessions and panels as well as larger all-day events throughout the year. This year the campaign will be holding its biggest ever event in London in the week leading up to International Women’s Day.

On being nominated, Christine said, “It’s humbling to be included on f-entrepreneur’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs, amongst such inspirational women! It’s a great opportunity to connect and to learn from one another.”

Christine MacKay

MacKay, who has had a varied career spanning multiple countries and industries, has been recognised for both her business accomplishments as well as her dynamic journey.

 Falling in love with animation as an impressive medium for B2B visual communications, MacKay started Salamandra.uk, an animation and design studio, back in 2014. Since then, Salamandra.uk now has two studios, based in Eton and Dundee, and works with brands in 17 industries.

Talking about her career success, MacKay added, “You’ve got to find something that people want, that you are passionate about, where you and your team can shine and always go over and above what is expected. Animation is like ice-cream. Mentioning either of them will make people’s eyes light up. In B2B, animation is the modern version of a jingle – remember those from your childhood that if you still sing, you can still remember the brand? That’s powerful branding!”

MacKay continues to pioneer the business, as well as sharing her expertise to help other aspiring professionals. Most recently, she was a live-stream panellist for the Royal Television Society (RTS), sharing her tips on how to get ahead in Animation and was asked to be a London Regional  Judge for the RTS Student Television Awards 2020 at Channel 4.

f:Entrepreneur founder Michelle Ovens MBE mentioned, “I am delighted to reveal f:Entrepreneur’s second annual #ialso Top 100; the trailblazers demonstrating that entrepreneurialism is a space being reinvented by women.

The stories of these women are incredibly inspirational and reach outside the traditional bounds of business, including a number of cancer survivors and carers, amongst many other people who do so much more than their day job.

This is a campaign that highlights the work of incredible women, but it is not only aimed at inspiring other women. This is for men too; showing everyone that even in the toughest situations in life, it is entrepreneurs who are the people that not only survive but thrive, creating purposeful small businesses and supporting their communities every day.”

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Gaming is all set to become one of the major driving forces for digital expansion in India. Skill-based games and fantasy games are the genres that are witnessing the highest growth in India. The country has always been a hub of skill-based games – be it Ludo or Chess or Rummy, Indians love playing these games way before video games and online gaming became the trend.

Junglee Games head of games Puneet Mehrotra

In conversation with Animationxpress Junglee Games head of games Puneet Mehrotra shares a picture of  games of skill scene in India. Says he,“Games of skill is a booming market in India. Industry is set to touch $1 billion mark by 2022. 2019 saw an increased moment in this space which in turn has setup high benchmarks for 2020. New skill gaming companies are coming up and many of them have also secured funding.”

What is game of skill?
A game of skill is when a player invests his/her time in learning, practising and refining his skill to perform in a particular game. The Supreme Court noted that games of skill would be where “Success depends principally upon the superior knowledge, training, attention, experience and adroitness of the player. It is also noted by the Supreme Court that a Game of Skill will have a predominance of Skill Factor. The principal legislation governing gambling in India is the Public Gambling Act, 1867 (‘PGA’). The PGA criminalises the act of ‘gambling’ in a public forum and the keeping of a ‘common gaming house’. The PGA, however, creates an important exception in favour of games of skill, by stating that the provisions of the PGA shall [not] be held to apply to any ‘game of mere skill’ wherever played.”

With this aspect, a lot of games have shaped the game of skill sector in 2019. In 2020 skill based games have open up opportunities in terms of investments, revenues and popularity.  Apart from cheap data rates and affordable smart phones the two reasons why skill based games are gaining popularity are because games which are available right now under game of skill have opened up the window for players to earn real money on basis of their skills,  and the awareness and the knowledge of the audience on game of skills have gained over the years.

“More people than ever now understand the difference between gambling (game of chance) and wagering based games of skill. Users are looking for ROI on the time they spend on games and this genre provide just that to them. With the increase in penetration of mobile and internet in tier two and tier three cities in India, sky is the limit,” he expressed.

Today the market is much more receptive towards the new games that are coming in. Although it is a fact that the gaming industry is mostly dominated with youth audience however the attraction of mixed audience in the games of skills is towards higher side. The reason behind the maturity is the attractiveness of game of skill campaigns which have not only aware people about the game of skill but have also attracted non gamers to learn, practice and refine their skill and this is will become more prominent in the coming years. Giving the picture of how the market will be for Rummy and Fantasy in 2020 he highlighted that, “Rummy and Fantasy will continue to push the market size boundaries to new heights in 2020. A lot of companies are now experimenting with RMG versions of casual and hyper casual games; this is the space to watch this year.”

Junglee Games’ debuted the gaming market with Junglee Rummy, which was launched in April, 2012. Since then the team behind Junglee Games has evolved, adapted and created some of the biggest skill-based games to suit the audience’s interest and today while marching to the year 2020, he shares, “These are exciting times at Junglee Games. We are the fastest growing skill gaming company in South East Asia. Revenues are double digit percentage of $600M GMV. 2020 will see us venturing out into casual games RMG space.”

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Shemaroo Entertainment has extended the contract with noted writer and comic artist, Sukhwant Kalsi regarding his fun IP Moorkhistan, a series of cartoon strips for Tata Sky.

“My first contract was for two years 2017-2019, and the renewed contract is for another year, 2019-2020,” Kalsi told Animation Xpress. 

Kalsi is also the writer of the upcoming 3D animated show, Johny Lever based on the legendary Bollywood comedian, Johnny Lever. He also co-owns the IP with the production house, Yolo Media. 

Commenting on the inception of Moorkhistan, Kalsi said, “I created Moorkhistan 32 years ago for the cartoon column of children’s magazine, Nanhey Samrat which I have also been editing since 1988. The idea behind Moorkhistan was to create a fun world, the land of ‘idiots’ where only intelligent people live. It’s a non-political show and has been largely accepted by all age groups of readers, audience as this is something that kids haven’t seen till date and the concept is unique and unexplored. It’s very popular on social media and I am in talks with a few prestigious production houses of the animation industry, who wish to acquire the rights and create animated series out of it.”

Moorkhistan cartoons got great responses in both print and digital media. The official Facebook page has more than 10,500 followers. The cartoon strips are circulated daily by Kalsi himself on WhatsApp which gets viral in no time. On Tata Sky too, its viewership is in millions. 

Moorkhistan cartoon characters are also quite popular in the merchandising space, given its posters are already available on amazon. Further publication of books, T-shirts and prank gadgets of Moorkhistan are in the pipeline.

Moorkistan has also been appreciated and advocated by well known comedians like johnny Lever, Sunil Pal, Raju Srivastav, Ahsaan Qureshi, Sudesh Lehri, Upasan Singh and other industry people.

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