Chennai based Sanraa Media has entered into an agreement with Malaysia-based In Fusion Solutions for developing a 90 min 3D feature film based on the travelogue of the legendary Ibn Battuta. The feature estimated at a cost of USD 10 million with both studios putting in their own resources to begin with, but actively seeking funding as well. The feature is scheduled to kick off production by January 2010 and is slated for a late 2011 release.
Way before flying miles or even the Wright Brothers invented the flying machine, or way before cruise liners came into being, in as early as the 6th century the Iconic Ibn Battuta travelled across continents and countries for nearly 30 years through Morocco to China to India. The feature is based on his travelogue. How his travels made him understand different cultures and made him wiser is the gist of the story.
A team of 150 artists from Sanraa (close to 70 already working at Sanraa and studio will also ramp up) and Infusion will work on the project that‘s planned to be complete within a span of 18-22 months. Script writers from Hollywood are being roped in for the scripting and the feature is in its initial stage of research on the various cultures.
Speaking to Animationxpress.com In Fusion‘s Executive Director Aznin Nur Ameran shared, “The film has a very large canvas, we are trying to show three big civilizations, China, India and the Middle East and each has a very rich culture and we wouldn’t want to hurt that. But again it is not a documentary and it is going to be a full length feature with a lot of adventure and drama. The film is going to be a spectacle and of a grandeur never seen before”
Talking about the funding he said, “Battuta is such a Iconic figure in the Middle East as well as across several other countries that we already have a lot of interest from investors for our feature. Also we will be proposing to the MDEC which is the Malaysian Government Agency for investments through the co-production pact as we believe through this co-production we are making a good product with high production values and great cultural story and canvas”
Sanraa‘s Sukumar Subramanian added, “This is also the biggest opportunity for India and Malaysia to work together in a project of this nature. It will again open up new avenues because we have all been talking about co productions with UK and US, this market (The Asia & M.E) which put together is much bigger than the whole of Europe, which we have due to some reasons neglected for long. That will surely change after the outcome of this project. We are confident about it and whoever we have shown the project has liked it.”
Both the collaborating companies have taken nearly a year‘s time of deligence and discussions to agree upon collaborating for the feature.
“We want to give the viewers an epic experience with Battuta” they say.