Aardman & Gurinder Chadha Team for Bollywood-Inspired Movie

Aardman has aligned with director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham, Bride and Prejudice) for an animated feature film aimed at a global family audience.

The musical will tell the story of Bodhi, a young Indian elephant from the jungles of Kerala who dreams of becoming a Bollywood dancer. The project will be directed by Chadha, who is co-writing the script with Paul Mayeda Berges, through their Bend It Networks production company.

Chadha said: “Aardman is a Great British national treasure. I am honored and excited to bring my unique British-Asian vision to their acclaimed animation studio. Their work has so much heart, humor and affection, and we share a love of authentic and joyful underdog stories about memorable characters—so it really is a perfect match.”

Peter Lord, creative director at Aardman, said: “We are so excited to be collaborating with Gurinder, a truly great director whose beautiful, funny and warm storytelling we have long admired. Her talent, when combined with the team here at Aardman, promises something new and extraordinary in the world of animation.”