Gaurav Wakankar

Gaurav wakankar knows a thing or two about robots and I’m not talking about the lovely kind. The Indian 2D Animator known for his short film ‘mother’ and being a member of ghost has earned a spot for himself as an animator for the 11 time Emmy award winning marvelous of a show ‘Love death and robots’.

What was your experience like working on “mother”?

Mother was my first official debut film. Before Mother, I had a project that I never finished which was during my college days when we had a chance to make almost four films every year. But as a student one is very excited to make the best film out there which made me write such prolonged stories that couldn't be done by a single person, so I used to abandon them because of the time they took. Originally, Mother was my graduation project. It was a six-minute-long film called Sacrifice, which had many dialogues, characters like a theatrical play, which was something I loved. I put everything into it, but it became unachievable by a single person. I didn't have the resources to employ. People to make this film so I abandoned it.

In 2019, when my colleagues Upamanyu and Kalpana and others in Ghost decided to finish their films, it made me look back on my incomplete projects. We had a few interns over, so I changed the story of my graduation project 'Sacrifice' drastically and made a prequel to that project which we named Mother. That is how Mother came to be. I was desperate. I wanted at least one film to start and end on my name. Without that, I couldn't even call myself a filmmaker. Then I told myself to keep it short and simple without any over complications.

I knew the story is good enough and works with people even verbally. That's why I did not focus more on developing the story. Instead, I focused on easy characters, simple backgrounds, and break down everything so that it can be done quickly. I got the right people on-board.

I got an art director who helped me not spend my time doing something I'm not good at. I think the people and their special quirks helped my project more compared to if I would've done it alone. This film educated me in every aspect.

The trailer for the new season of Love Death and Robots is out, and it looks really amazing. Can you share your experience while working on this show.

Love, Death and robots is one of the first few projects I did with an international team. I had a chance to work with the same director who I worked with before for a music video. He is a really sweet, supportive, friendly guy who had seen my Ghost work. I sent him a message for Love, Deathand robots and he instantly took me in and told his producers about me.

It was cool because it was my first time working with such a big group of almost 40 to 50 animators and not everyone was working full time. A lot of them had worked for a few months and left. I got to see how big the production team is who handles all the planning of the project.

It was my first time working with a dedicated producer who took care of everything, from timeline scheduling to file placement. If we needed anything we would approach the producer. I was unaware of such a position because in India I have not seen producers at all. It's a matter that education does not focus on. It's a very important role in the pipeline which can't necessarily be a creative role but it's definitely an important one. It takes away a lot of stress to keep you focused on your creative work. That was my biggest take from the project and as a result the pipeline was really cool. They used 3-D where I hadn't seen it being used before. That really was a good experience.

Anime is becoming such a huge industry. All over the world and even in India, people are just loving it. What is your favorite Anime? You wish to be a part of and do you think there's scope for it in India?

I'm not familiar with the recent anime, so it really depends. I don't have a particular wish, so I think I'm fine with any cool project. But because I grew up watching Dragon Ball Zee and Pokémon, which are still going on. Working on these would be like living a dream since it has a nostalgic impact on me. As for its scope, maybe it's a slow change, but it will make a difference. We are just so used and comfortable to follow the same formula that if a person takes a stand making an Indian anime and it works others will surely follow, but the person has to come up with original Indian material, which ties to our heritage and culture, otherwise a simple anime format would just not work.

How do you think connections and exposure help you build your career from where you were to where you are now?

I am very fortunate to meet Upamanyu, Kalpana and all the members of Ghost. We made Ghost and worked together right out of college. I had a safe umbrella because of Upamanyu, Kalp, and other seniors who were already out in the industry and have been working before us. They had their contacts and clients individually. These clients kept coming back to work with them. It was a collective exposure. Otherwise we had to keep putting work out online without a worry about whether it's good enough or not. At least that's how it is for me personally. My contacts increase because people see and like my work constantly and see my growth and potential as I post stuff regularly. That's how Instagram and the internet helped me to grow my audience. I see my social media as a portfolio of my work. People know where to find me. I think that's a given that if you are free and don't have a project on your hand don't wait for the opportunity but instead showcase your work and make yourself approachable.