Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 5, 2014)

Chhota Bheem, the nine-yearold animated hero of the children TV series, has already graduated to the big screen with two hit films, Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan (2012) and Chhota Bheem and the Throne of Bali (2013). Afraid of choking the market with more, Rajiv Chilaka, the CEO of Green Gold Animation, the producer-distributor of the series, decided against completing a hat-trick this summer. Instead, he turned his attention to his other and even younger superhero, Mighty Raju, who is just four. Raju will now be seen in a film.

 Mighty Raju: Rio Calling is complete and awaiting the censor nod. “If all goes well, we’d like to release the film on May 16. Our research shows that young children are drawn to sports action adventure flicks with superhero masala,” says Rajiv, who flew out a team of 10, including writers, animators and even musicians to the Brazilian capital which is gearing up to host the FIFA World Cup in June and the Olympics in 2016. “We studied the way the locals dressed, spoke and interacted and even got a few songs recorded by Latino musicians and artistes there.”

 Meanwhile, at FICCI Frames this year, the company’s stall had an enthusiastic visitor who happily posed with their Mighty mascot. Since she watches both shows with her kids, Yug and Nyasa, and chats with them about the characters, Kajol knew all about Chhota Bheem and Mighty Raju. “They are not just entertaining shows but they also offer a peek into our culture, mythology and roots through an interesting narrative which I appreciate,” she says.

 When the makers sent Mighty Raju and Chhota Bheem to her Juhu office to meet her kids, the trio was thrilled. With Mother’s Day around the corner, the makers have planned to get Mighty Raju to hand over the Mighty Mother award to Kajol on May 9. “I don’t know if I’m a mighty mother but yes, I have always maintained that my children are my foremost priority and responsibility,” says the actress, adding that since both the shows are part of her living room, she’s excited about the film too.

 Rajiv says they’ll wait and see how this film fares before deciding whether to take the franchise forward. “It’s a tough market,” he admits. “Frozen which made $ 1 billion worldwide could not make even .5 million in India. But there’s little by way of children’s entertainment here so you have to keep feeding the animation market. We’re already working on Chhota Bheem Kung-Fu Dhamaka in 3D.”