Mumbai: Aditya Birla Group-backed content studio Applause Entertainment has announced a partnership with Amar Chitra Katha, a player in the children’s publishing segment. 

As part of the collaboration, Applause Entertainment has acquired the license to Amar Chitra Katha catalogue, of more than 400 titles, which will be developed and produced into animated content.

“At Applause, we only strive to deliver the best in storytelling. Over the last four years, we have significantly pushed the envelope in curating and creating the most disruptive stories for Indian audiences that cut across genres and geographies,” said Applause Entertainment, chief executive officer, Sameer Nair. “Amar Chitra Katha is a household name in India with a diverse and celebrated library that deserves to be retold. Like millions of other people, I have grown up reading these iconic comics and as a child, imagined them with dynamic visuals and dramatic sound & action. This is our opportunity to realise that dream. This partnership is also a small step towards helping export Indian culture by taking a unique and deep-rooted cultural brand like Amar Chitra Katha to screens across the globe.”

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Spanning 20 languages, the Amar Chitra Katha library boasts titles across epics and mythology, history, fables and humour, brave hearts, visionaries, and ACK Junior. The children’s publisher was founded in 1967 by Anant Pai and sells more than 1.5 million copies every year. Amar Chitra Katha has forayed into digital with their app as well as a presence on Alexa, YouTube, and other digital platforms.

“At Amar Chitra Katha, we have been custodians of India’s stories for over 54 years, and we are thrilled to partner with Applause Entertainment to take our rich storytelling heritage to Indian and global audiences through animation,” said Amar Chitra Katha, president and chief executive officer, Preeti Vyas. “As the nation’s favourite storyteller, our mission has always been to provide Indian children a route to their roots and inspire in them a great sense of pride about India and being Indian. While we continue to keep our founder, Mr Anant Pai’s dream alive by telling new stories and creating fresh content in print and digital formats, we are also keen on presenting our iconic stories in an animated avatar. For this, we could not have hoped for a better partner than Applause. We are confident that Sameer Nair and his team, with their passion and superlative track record, will do an amazing job adapting our stories to animation and providing the new and future generations of Indians a crucial link to our past.”

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