Meren Imchen
Morung Express News
Dimapur / January 11
He makes the inanimate bounce to life. His imagination sparks movement. No, he is not a psychic blessed with supernatural powers. He’s a young but well acclaimed animation artist.
Say hello to Meren Imchen, Nagaland’s own prodigy whose animated film was selected to be screened at the Annecy film festival at France. Quite an achievement! What’s more, ever seen the [V] time check promos shown after every hour? Meren’s the genesis behind those humorous graphic sequences you see on your TV. Based in Mumbai, Meren is presently a freelancer who takes up assignments for major production houses. The ingenious lad graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID) in the year 2003. His guru who worked with him for ‘Aok and Aie,’ the animation screened at ‘Annecy’, France is none other than Ram Mohan, one of India’s best known animation artists. The folk tale depicting the saga on how the dog came to be man’s best friend is artily done. Vibrant colours have been deployed to illustrate the scenes. Kids will surely love it as it’s a surefire, eye-catching hit.
For the [V] promos, 4000 sets of drawings had to be made for a four and a half minute sequence. Whew! No easy task. “I try to use more graphics and malleable animation,” Meren tells The Morung Express. He’s also sketched the illustrations for an article written by Rajesh Devraj, former creative director of [V]. The article appeared in the November issue of the magazine, ‘Man’s World’ last year. The imaginative animator’s list of achievements is endless. He’s also the creative hand behind the comic strip ‘Sudarshan.’ Among the three films he’s made, two are based on Naga folklore. Besides [V], Meren has also made promos for the more recently launched music channel VH1 for its programmes, namely ‘Ticket to Ride’ and ‘Menu Card.’ For the same channel, he’s working on a promo for the show, ‘Head banger’s ball.’ His most recent film entitled ‘Nokpokliba’ was made in association with the Children’s Film Society of India.
On being asked what motivates him, he replies: “Movement. You’re giving life to something.” He wishes to make more ‘Naga stories’ because, as according to him, a lot of people are not aware of the richness of Naga culture. He’s also of the view that sensitive issues can be addressed powerfully through the medium of animation films. The biggest challenge for him is learning to draw the thin red line between commercial interest and artistic instinct.
The journey towards fame was not a cakewalk. Meren, who first came to hear of the animated world while he was in Class 12, was one of the 40 lucky students who secured admission into NID out of a whopping 2000 candidates. He has this piece of advice for aspiring animation film makers: “If you want your identity to be recognized, go to a music channel.” As he rightly puts it, “Nagaland has a huge library of stories.”
