As much as we love cartoon movies and animated movies, little do we know how much time and effort are consumed behind making those scenes an experience to get thrilled for. The sad reality of the entertainment industry is that the artists behind all this sometimes do not even get the deserved credits. Animation Industry as a career is booming in India as the young generation is currently interested in the creative field rather than working 9-5 shifts. This segment covers the journey of a very experienced Producer, Ruchi Shah.

Ruchi Shah hails from an upper-middle-class family in Baroda, Gujarat. She developed her interest in animation way earlier, even before it was a preferred profession in India. Being a 90’s kid, her fascination for technology and art grew as computers reached every doorstep. She was very intrigued by the software and used to make presentations not just in PowerPoint but also in different software systems. Her parents liked her idea of pursuing a career in animation but wanted her to complete an academic degree to avoid unseen shortcomings while making money out of the desired career choice. She agreed to the same and enrolled in MS University of Baroda in the field of commerce. In her free time, she used to dive deep into gaining knowledge about animation and VFX. Apart from academics, she applied to Arena Animation to gain experience and animation skills. 

In the early 2000s, this creative space was less explored, which led to hardly anyone guiding her about the journey and the setbacks. She knew that she had to explore everything and carve her own journey. With very little information on hand, she designed her path, which was so successful. Earlier, she invested a lot of time learning new techniques and trying them out as, after all, it is a work of art where the artist stays at liberty. She used to record short promotional films and posters to give her skills a refined finishing touch.
 
It is considered the best source for attaining the necessary knowledge to start working as a professional in the animation world. She thought about joining NYFA in New York but decided not to go forward as the course curriculum included topics that she had already learnt in India hence she joined Whistling Woods, a Subhash Ghai academy to learn about VFX which was a very new subject at the time, and later started working in Mumbai. She then had the opportunity to work in Dubai and currently in Ireland working on various projects.

Being at a senior level, she certainly feels the difference between the payout and the acknowledgment to the Indian artists in this field is significantly less than the first-world country’s artists. To understand every nuance, she went abroad to gain exposure to other professional work cultures and ethics. She realized that due to the low-cost labor available in India, all the hard work and complicated jobs are allotted to the Indian companies. In contrast, the creative and noteworthy creatives are usually assigned to companies located in the western region of the world. 

She believes Indians to be very hardworking and talented with simple ideas that can create a benchmark in this field if ample opportunities are given by the filmmakers and Indian audience to such genres. She urges the Indian audience to love Bollywood movies as much as Hollywood movies especially on new subjects. This will encourage the Indian film industry to risk making movies with subjects or topics that we haven’t experimented with so far and allow our industry to gain more visibility at a global platform.

She wants people to understand that whatever is shown about India and its people is just a half-truth, and the best version of Indians is still hidden from the world. She passionately does her work as it also carries the tag of nationality. Gaining so much love and appreciation from people worldwide because of her skills is what, as Indians, we need to be proud of. She thinks all interested students should pursue this field only if one is truly passionate about it. It is an advantageous industry in the long run, and especially in India, it is thriving, and fame is a by-product of it.