"Deepa & Rupa" on YouTube n YouTube

May 16, 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA:

Winner of the Gold Plaque in Children's Program at the 26th Chicago International Film Festival (1990), Deepa and Rupa: A Fairytale from India was Manick Sorcar’s first television production. Based on a popular fable of Bengal of honesty and greed, it was recorded in the history as India’s first animation weaved with live action.

Today Deepa and Rupa: A Fairytale from India was uploaded on YouTube.

 

Rupa chats with her friend, a cow, in a scene from
Deepa and Rupa: A Fairytale from India. Click the picture to go to YouTube

Deepa and Rupa“ was nationally telecast in India by Doordarshan, the Government-owned TV Channel. In the USA it was telecast on several PBS channels across the country including the Rocky Mountain PBS of Colorado, where it has been shown for 25 years in a row with Sorcar’s other animated shorts as a year-end holiday special.

The half-hour production where animation needed to be skillfully interweaved with live action, was a challenge for Sorcar. For the low-budget, high-quality film, he hand-painted all background scenes, did all animation work on his own and used family members and friends to act in various roles.

For three long years (1988-1990), he religiously devoted his nights, weekends and all the time he could spare from his engineering business to translate this dream into reality. The labor of love paid off. What started as a venture to teach his two young U.S. born daughters about their Indian heritage, turned into a colorful, dazzling production for the world to enjoy. Produced in English and acting as a cultural bridge between East and West, “Deepa and Rupa” received rave reviews from the media and became an instant favorite at elementary schools across the nation. Sorcar and his daughter, Piya, who was nominated for a Heartland Regional Emmy award for her acting role as Rupa in the film, were frequent guest lecturers at schools.

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Left: Sisters Deepa (Deepa Reddy) and Rupa (Piya Sorcar), Right: Rupa's mother (Shikha Sorcar) and Deepa's mother (Sunita Budhiraja)

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Left: The Moon Lady (Sharmishtha Arora), Right: Mr. Banyan



Rupa with Mr. Banyan




"Deepa and Rupa" received a host of prestigious international awards. Apart from the Gold Plaque at Chicago International Film Festival, it also received the Golden Eagle from the Council on International Non-theatrical Events (CINE), Silver and Bronze medals at the International Film Festival of New York, and nominations for three Heartland Regional Emmy Awards. It was given four stars (“Excellent”) by the Video Rating Guide for Libraries, USA

 

What they say:

“A home-grown, family project humanizes the machine”

- The Denver Post, USA

“Comparing Sorcar’s animations with those traditionally seen on Saturday mornings, he just about could be Hanna Barbera”
- The Daily Camera, USA

"In a head-to-head competition, it topped the Children's Workshop's 'Sesame Street' and Hanna-Barbera's 'The Greatest Adventure' at the International Film and TV Festival of New York"
-The Rocky Mountain News, USA

"Deepa & Rupa: A Fairytale From India (recipient of Four Stars- "Excellent") recounts an Indian fairy tale of honesty and greed by skillfully interweaving animation with live action characters...two different techniques blend well together and look natural , and the acting is good. This video is best suited to school and public libraries as an introduction to different cultures and their folklore...".

-Videos Rating Guide for Libraries, USA

Other related news of interest:

"Deepa & Rupa" Screened at University of Utah
Governor of Colorado Sends Best Wishes for the Silver Jubilee Event
Silver Jubilee Animation Event Celebrated at the Quality Inn, Denver
"FIRST feature-length live action and animation mixed film of India" - Animation World Network



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