iWorld
Here are the winners of the second edition of Ann Awards
Mumbai: On 17 July, Animation Xpress concluded the second edition of KAM Kids Animation & More summit that successfully brought together all the stakeholders of the animation space from all across the globe. The summit was followed by a grand award ceremony titled the ANN Awards 2021 where the best talents in the world of animation were honoured and recognised for their artistry and creativity.
KAM Summit and ANN awards were presented by Nick and co-powered by Cosmos-Maya, Unreal-Engine and Discovery Kids. YOTTA served as the workstation partner and OTT service partner whereas Green Gold Animation was the summit partner. ABAI promoting Centre of Excellence (COE) were the associate partners and the event was supported by in10 Media – GUBBARE and HUION. Tokyo-based TBS’ Digicon6 Asia was the festival partner and ASIFA India was the community partner.
Animators, studios, and individuals from institutes participated across 66 categories, setting a benchmark in the animation space. Over 300 artists were judged by a well-qualified 10-member jury through an online mechanism. The jurors were Vidit Kundra, Shilpa Ranade, Yoshiya Ayugai, Sekhar Mukherjee, Joan Vogelesang, Indrajit Nattoji, Anil Wanvari, Vivek Ram, Jack Liang, Dhimant Vyas.
The winners will receive the Ann Awards trophy along with digital certificates.
This year to honour the creative genius and champion of Indian animation industry, the late Arnab Chaudhuri, AnimationXpress introduced a new recognition, ‘The Arnab Chaudhuri Director’s Award’. To select the winners, an Awards Committee was put in place that consisted of people who have been associated with Arnab and understood his philosophies- Vaibhav Kumaresh, Ashish Kulkarni, Pete Bishop, Orion Ross, P Jayakumar, Prakash Moorthy, Hari Varma, Anil Wanvari and Ashima Avasthi.
The winning student director under ‘The Arnab Chaudhuri Young Ace Award – Short Form content’ will be awarded with a cash prize of Rs 15,001 and the winner of ‘The Arnab Chaudhuri Young Ace Award – Long fort Form content’ will be awarded with Rs 33,001. The cash prize is a joint contribution from Ashima Avasthi, Vaibhav Kumaresh and AnimationXpress. The winners will also receive a digital tablet from our support partner HUION.
Here’s the list of Ann Awards nominations and winners:
PROGRAMMING
Best Preschool Show
· Mighty Little Bheem episode – A Royal Festival of Colors (Green Gold Animation)
Best Channel Packaging
· Warner Media India – Pogo Festive Packaging
Best Promo
· Kaal ka badla (Discovery Kids India)
· Kris Live Action Sport (Warner Media India – Pogo)
· Kris Live Action Stationary (Warner Media India – Pogo)
· Toons ki barish (Warner Media India – Cartoon Network)
· What’s Your Summer Plan (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best 2D Animated Series
· Abhimanyu (Toonz Media Group)
· Ting Tong as Inventor (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Chhota Bheem Episode – Shrunken Kids (Green Gold Animation)
· Fukrey Boyzzz: Vanaar Sena (Discovery Kids India)
· Titoo (Cosmos-Maya)
Best 3D animated series
· Bhoot Bandhus Family Tree & Bhoot Bandhus Magic Show (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Rudra – Race to the mountain (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Bablu Dablu: Monster Plan (One Take Media)
· Motu Patlu (Cosmos-Maya)
· KickO and Super Speedo (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best Animated Film
· Fatak Patak – Sheru Ban Gaya Champion (Nihodo Media)
· Rudra – The Land of Nowhere (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Bheem In The City (Green Gold Animation)
· Little Singham : Kaal ki Shatir Chaal (Discovery Kids India)
· Little Singham: Future mein Satakli (Discovery Kids India)
Best Animated Short Film
· Ting Tong as Kungfu Dancer (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Jungle Mangal (Saggitive TechnoCreative Solutions)
· Lamput – Transfer Gun (Warner Media India)
Best Music Composer
· Har Task with a Mask (Warner Media India)
· Move it Like the Animals (YoBoHo Digital Content)
· Kicko and Super Speedo vs Benaam Who (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best Remotely Produced Content
· Bheega Diya na (Warner Media India)
· We for the World (Warner Media India – Pogo)
· Momo and Tulus (YoBoHo Digital Content)
DIGITAL/ OTT AWARDS
Best Animated Film
· Bombay Rose (Paperboat Design Studios)
· Titoo Ambulance (Warner Media India – Pogo)
· Christmas Ident (Warner Media India – Pogo)
· Simmba Biker Gang (Warner Media India – Pogo)
Best Animated Digital Series
· Gummy Bear & Friends (Toonz Media Group)
· Mighty Little Bheem Episode – Come Out and Play (Green Gold Animation)
Best Animated Music Video
· The Fortune & Julia Nem – Lost (Kiran Venugopalan)
· Titoo aisa kyun hain? (Warner Media India)
· Har task with a mask (Warner Media India – Pogo)
Best Remotely Produced content
· Toons ki barish (Warner Media India – Cartoon Network)
Best Animated Social Media Brand
· Cosmos-Maya WowKidz
Best Reels
· Pixoury Media
TECHNICAL AWARDS
Best Title Design
· Fukrey Boyzzz: Vaanar Sena (Discovery Kids India)
Best Title Song
· Keymon Ache (Viacom18 – Nickelodeon)
· Hope Song – Phhir Dil Bolega YAY! (Sony Pictures Networks India)
· Honey Bunny ka Jholmaal title song (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best Editing in an Animated TV Series
· Motu Patlu (Cosmos-Maya)
Best Editing in an Animated Film
· Fatak Patak – Sheru Ka World Tour (Nihodo Media)
· Fatak Patak – Sheru Aur Masti Ki Pathshala (Nihodo Media)
· Honey Bunny in Ghost Palace (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best Editing in an Animated Digital Series
· Momo and Tulus (YoBoHo Digital Content)
· Ace2Three Rummy (Skill Tool Studio)
Best Director of an Animated TV series
· Toonz Media Group
Chacha Chaudhary
· Cosmos-Maya
Selfie With Bajrangi
· Cosmos-Maya
Motu Patlu
Technical Awards
Best Director of an Animated Film
· A THEOREM (AK RAPOLU THEOREM)
DHIRA
Best Director of a Digital Series
· Skill Tool Studio
Ace2Three Rummy
Best Screenplay
· Fatak Patak – Sheru Ka World Tour (Nihodo Media)
· Fatak Patak – Sheru Ban Gaya Champion (Nihodo Media)
· Honey Bunny and Super Car Race (Sony Pictures Networks India)
Best Character Design
· Tiger in Jungle Mangal (Saggitive TechnoCreative Solutions)
· Gadget Guru Ganesha (Cosmos-Maya)
· Bapu (Cosmos-Maya)
Best Character Animation
· One Take Media Bablu
Dablu: Monster Plan
Best Voice Over Artist for a TV series – Male
· Sony Pictures Networks India
Honey Bunny Ka Jholmaal
Best Voice Over Artist for a Digital series – Female
· YoBoHo Digital Content Build
A Childrens Playground
Best Technical Innovation
· A THEOREM (AK RAPOLU THEOREM)
DHIRA
L&M (Licensing & Merchandising) Awards
Best Animated Character Merchandise
· Chhota Bheem Saregama Carvaan Mini (Green Gold Animation)
Best Animated Series Merchandise
· Fatak Patak (Nihodo Media)
Best Licensed Animated Character Programme
· Chhota Bheem (Green Gold Animation)
Best Licensed Animated Series Programme
· Bablu Dablu: Snow Daze (One Take Media)
Best use of Leveraging a Character for Brand Marketing
· Chhota Bheem Jelimal Candies (Green Gold Animation)
MAM (Media, Advertising and Marketing) Awards
Best Animated Brand Film
· Air India Animated Brand Films (ARTHA Animation)
· Ace2Three Rummy (Skill Tool Studio)
· TRAQ by Titan (Paperboat Design Studio)
Best Digital Campaign for an Animated Series
· Fukreyy Boyzzz Launch (Discovery Kids India)
· Kaal ki Shatir Chaal (Discovery Kids India)
· Ace2Three Rummy (Skill Tool Studio)
Best use of Animated Character in a Brand TVC
· Air India Animated Brand Advertisements (ARTHA Animation)
Best Experiential Marketing
· School Contact Programme (Discovery Kids India)
Best Brand Collaboration
· Fukrey Boyzzz x Britannia Krunch (Discovery Kids India)
Best Innovative Campaign
· SuperHero Academy (Discovery Kids India)
Student Awards
Best Student 3D Film
· Deep Trouble (MAAC Andheri – Mumbai)
· Let’s Go (MAAC South Extension – New Delhi)
· BOOND (MAAC Malad – Mumbai)
Best Student 2D film
· Story of a Beginning
Balaram J (National Institute of Design)
· Water Pollution
Vishnu Balal (UNESCO H2Ooooh! – Waterwise Program 2021 by Toonz Media Group)
· Blinding Lights Music Video
Dhruv Dhindale, Sakshi Singh & Aman Singh (DICE VFS)
SPECIAL AWARDS
Best Animator – Female
· Meera Latkar (Warner Media India – POGO)
Bheega diya naa
Best Animator – Male
· Mukund Bhaleghare (Skill Tool Studio)
ACE2THREE Rummy
Best Indie Studio
· Paperboat Design Studios
Young Animator of the Year
· Balaram J (National Institute of Design)
Story of a Beginning
Best Animated Music Video
· Jazyl Homavazir & Amandeep Singh
Homeless Homeboy Animated Opening
· YoBoHo Digital Content
Move it Like the Animals
· Discovery Kids India
Little Singham: Kaal ki shatir Chaal
· Kiran Venugopalan & Aishwarya Manoj Mankar
The Fortune & Julia Nem – Lost
Best Bollywood inspired animated IP
· Fukrey Boyzzz (Discovery Kids India)
Best use of animation in a public service message nominee
· Pollution Control Day 2020 (Digitalclay Studios)
· Mumbai Police Parivaar (ARTHA Animation)
· Fukrey Boyzzz: Swag wali Diwali (Discovery Kids India)
Best Syndicated Content
· Bablu Dablu: Sunsational Summer (One Take Media)
EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARDS
Best 3D Series Overall- TV and OTT
· Mondo Yan (Toonz Media Group)
· Mighty Little Bheem Episode – A Flower For Mom (Green Gold Animation)
Most Expansive Studio of the Year
Cosmos-Maya
The Arnab Chaudhuri Director’s Award
The Arnab Chaudhuri Young ACE Award – Short Form
· Notun Fasal (New Harvest)
Sovan Dutta (SRFTI)
The Arnab Chaudhuri Young ACE Award – Long Form
· Story of a Beginning
Balaram J (National Institute of Design)
The Arnab Chaudhuri Animation ACE Award
· Chandra’s Cafe
Krishna Chandran A. Nair
iWorld
Meta warns 200 users after fake Whatsapp spyware attack
Italy-targeted campaign used unofficial app to deploy surveillance spyware.
MUMBAI: It looked like a message, but it behaved like a mole. Meta has warned around 200 users most of them in Italy after uncovering a targeted spyware campaign that weaponised a fake version of WhatsApp to infiltrate devices. The attack, first reported by Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata, relied on classic social engineering with a modern twist: persuading users to download an unofficial WhatsApp clone embedded with surveillance software. The malicious application, believed to be developed by Italian firm SIO through its subsidiary ASIGINT, was designed to mimic the real app closely enough to bypass suspicion.
Meta’s security teams identified roughly 200 individuals who may have installed the compromised version, triggering immediate countermeasures. Affected users were logged out of their accounts and issued alerts warning of potential privacy breaches, with the company describing the incident as a “targeted social engineering attempt” aimed at gaining device-level access.
The malicious app was not distributed via official app stores but circulated through third-party channels, where it was presented as a legitimate WhatsApp alternative. Once installed, it reportedly allowed external operators to access sensitive data stored on the device turning a simple download into a potential surveillance gateway.
According to Techcrunch, Meta is now preparing legal action against the spyware developers to curb further misuse. The company, however, has not disclosed details about the specific individuals targeted or the extent of data compromised.
A Whatsapp spokesperson reiterated that user safety remains the top priority, particularly for those misled into installing the fake iOS application. Meanwhile, reports from La Repubblica suggest the spyware may be linked to “Spyrtacus”, a strain previously associated with Android-based attacks that could intercept calls, activate microphones and even access cameras.
The episode underscores a growing reality in the digital age, the threat is no longer just what you download, but where you download it from. As unofficial apps become increasingly convincing, the line between communication tool and covert surveillance is getting harder to spot and far easier to exploit.
