Disney Inks India Deal for Animated Feature Films

BURBANK, June 12: The Walt Disney Studios has entered into
an agreement with Yash Raj Films (YRF) Studios, the Indian outfit behind
Bollywood successes like Dhoom 2 and Salaam
Namaste, to create a series of
Hindi-language computer-animated feature films.

Announcing the coproduction deal—Disney’s first for
movies in India—Dick Cook, the chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, said
the films would be “culturally relevant for the avid movie-going audiences in
India and around the world.”

Cook continued: “Animation is a new and rapidly expanding
area in India, and the collaboration between Disney and YRF Studios will bring
the very best in storytelling and cutting-edge technology together as we make
wonderful films that appeal to the entire family.”

Both companies will be equal partners in the venture and
will contribute creative, technical and financial support to the project. Each
film under this alliance will be creatively overseen by YRF’s Aditya Chopra. The
first film out of the deal will be Roadside Romeo, set to be released in 2008. The film will be produced by Aditya
Chopra and written and directed by Jugal Hansraj, with computer animation
technology done entirely in India.