Movies
India opens Waves Bazaar pavilion at Busan film market
BUSAN: India unveiled the Waves Bazaar – Bharat Pavilion at the Asian Contents & Film Market, held alongside the Busan International Film Festival, to pitch its fast-growing media and entertainment sector to global buyers and partners.
Set up by the ministry of information and broadcasting with the Indian embassy in Seoul, the pavilion will run until 23 September, promoting co-productions and partnerships across film, television, gaming and emerging creative technologies.
The launch drew industry figures including Kang Sungkyu of the Busan Film Commission, Agnieszka Moody of the British Film Institute and Ferdinando Gueli of the Italian Trade Agency. Indian filmmakers Arfi Lamba, Pradip Kurbah and Tannishtha Chatterjee joined officials Prithul Kumar, joint secretary at the ministry, and Nishi Kant Singh, chargé d’affaires at the embassy.
Speakers highlighted India’s rising weight in the global content economy and the pavilion’s role as a bridge for collaboration. The space hosts screenings, B2B meetings and showcases in animation, VFX, gaming and immersive storytelling, underscoring New Delhi’s ambition to position India as a global content hub.
Movies
Green Gold Animation creates CG character for Telugu film Rākāsā
Chhota Bheem studio expands into mainstream VFX with dialogue-free digital lead.
MUMBAI: Green Gold Animation, the house that gave India Chhota Bheem, is now stepping out of the kids’ zone and into the big screen with a rather silent but powerful performer. The Hyderabad-based studio’s VFX division has delivered a fully computer-generated character for the upcoming Telugu-language comedy-fantasy thriller Rākāsā, set for theatrical release on 3 April 2026. Directed by Manasa Sharma and produced by Niharika Konidela under Pink Elephant Pictures in collaboration with Zee Studios, the film marks a notable move for Green Gold into complex, character-driven work for mainstream cinema.
What makes the project stand out is its ambitious central character, a completely digital creation that does not speak a single line. Instead, the character relies entirely on animation, movement, facial expressions and body language to convey emotion and connect with audiences. This is a relatively unexplored approach in Telugu cinema at this scale.
Green Gold’s VFX team was involved from early pre-production through to final delivery, completing over 750 CG shots with a team of more than 100 artists. The work included detailed character animation, performance design and fluid simulations, all executed within tight timelines and practical budgets through strong planning and close collaboration.
Green Gold Animation founder & CEO Rajiv Chilaka said the project pushed the team to approach character creation differently. “Building a fully digital character where every emotion had to come through performance and detailing was very meaningful,” he noted.
Green Gold VFX supervisor and VFX creative director Murali Manohar Reddy added that the emotional depth had to be communicated entirely through visual performance. “This wasn’t about reinventing technology, but about using our tools and processes with precision to serve the story,” he said.
Producer Niharika Konidela praised the collaboration, saying the Green Gold VFX team understood the vision and brought strong detail and emotion to the character while working within practical constraints.
The film blends humour, action and mythological elements, following an NRI protagonist on a chaotic and magical adventure. It stars Sangeet Shobhan, Nayan Sarika, Vennela Kishore, Brahmaji and Ashish Vidyarthi, with music by Anudeep Dev.
For a studio best known for colourful kids’ animation, delivering a silent, emotionally expressive CG lead for a mainstream theatrical release is quite the plot twist. With Rākāsā, Green Gold Animation is quietly proving it can speak volumes even without dialogue.
