“Mahabharata is the inspiration to create the iconic Chhota Bheem“ stated Mr. Rajiv Chilaka, Founder & CEO, Green Gold Animation, Creator of Chhota Bheem, at the 38th WiseViews Leadership Conversations conducted on January, 7th 2022 by ICFAI on every Friday at 7.30 pm. He delivered a talk on the topic “Brand Bheem: Local Story Going Global”.
Mr. Rajiv shared his amazing journey in the animation industry and how he went on to create a brand that has become a household name across the world. “I liked the character of Bheem in my childhood and wanted to tell his story in a simple and different manner which will appeal to the kids. That’s how Chhota Bheem emerged” said Mr. Rajiv. He also stated that their journey was not a smooth ride as they faced failures and challenges in their initial stages. There was a fire accident at Hyderabad office even before it has started its operations. But, as warriors they never stopped to fight against the adversities and slowly clawed their way back into the industry. “Walt Disney was my inspiration and I wanted to create something similar to what he did”, he said.
“So far Green Gold Animation has created 35,134 minutes of quality content out of which 15,261 minutes were dedicated to Bheem. Chhota Bheem entered the television with POGO channel in 2008 and it soon became a huge hit among the kids. All the characters like Chutki, Kalia, Raju and even the name of the village Dholakpur, the famous Laddoos, everything connected with the audience” said Mr Rajiv
Mr Rajiv further said “The success story continued with the Super Bheem and Mighty Little Bheem at present. YouTube reported 4 billion views of the Mighty Bheem and Netflix started its original series with this brand. “Netflix in association with UNESCO decided to celebrate the 75 years of Indian independence is the biggest appreciation we received till date” said Mr. Rajiv.
There are many achievements which Bheem bagged which even the creators didn’t thought of. The super stars of Bollywood promoted their films through Chhota Bheem. Green Gold started exclusive stores and their merchandise also became a huge hit with the kids.
Mr. Rajiv predicted that the future of digital world is going to be interactive and there is a need to evaluate the strategies every 6 or 12 months.
Answering to a query in the Q & A session, Mr. Rajiv said “The animation industry is very demanding and it requires lot of creativity, perseverance and knowledge to taste success. But there is a huge market to be tapped in this field and it welcomes entrepreneurs to take up some innovative projects in animation”.
The conversation was moderated by Prof. R Prasad, Director – Academic Wing, ICFAI Group and Prof. Sudhakar Rao, Director – Branding, ICFAI Group.
About 250 participants including entrepreneurs, Research Scholars, working professionals from various parts of the country registered for this webinar which was also live streamed on facebook.
