MAAC students create 'Cric-X'

Mumbai: ‘Cric-X’ India’s first ‘cricked inspired’ 3D animation movie, developed by students of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) under their mentorship series in the aegis of MAAC creative shop, recently made its debut on Disney channel. A private screening was also held last week at the Fun Republic multiplex in Andheri.The movie is laced with the fun, excitement and dreams associated with cricket in India, complete with imaginative, visually appealing scenes and excellent storytelling. And, that’s not all, it also has many interesting characters. Soni, the captain is a cool-headed guy and the opening batsman of the team. Then there is Veer, a swashbuckling batsman who believes that aggression is all it takes to win a game; Prince, a super cool Casanova; and Lucky, a funny Sikh, who is the team’s ace spinner.Explaining the concept behind the 80-minute long feature film, Sanjiv Waeerkar, chief creative officer, MAAC, said, “MAAC has always strived to give its students the best of practical training along with aesthetic knowledge to help them become industry ready animators. The mentorship series is an effort to provide much needed industry exposure to facilitate their work in studio environments. Cric-X is also an effort to demonstrate the promising capabilities of Indian animation talent. Such students are not only treated as experienced in the industry, but are also better equipped and more confident about their work.”

“MAAC Creative Shop was formed to create content for the industry; to see to it that students get exposure to the industry and opportunities to showcase their talent. A year ago, we were thinking about how to create content from India. We felt that Indians have gone beyond mythology, which is what previous content was based on. I was watching the movie Chak De India and felt that a sports concept would do well. We had 300 MAAC students from nine locations across India working on this project. It was a great experience. MAAC has 70 centres with 15,000 students and we have two more movies in different stages of production,” added Waeerkar. On the significance of the movie being aired on Disney channel, Sanjiv said, “The stamp of quality it provides is huge. The channel didn’t buy it as a student film; they saw the cut and liked it. Students have to be triggered at the right point. They need an opportunity and at MAAC, that’s what we are doing.”