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Mighty little global star: Netflix's Indian superhero toddler

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Ammu Kannampilly, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/entertainment/10/08/maxresdefault1.jpg"/><figcaption>The Netflix animation &#x27;Mighty Little Bheem&#x27; is a global hit, as viewers seek alternatives to white-dominated storylines. Netflix</figcaption></figure></div>It was a quest worthy of a superhero. Animator Rajiv Chilaka spent years flogging his pitch about a superhuman Indian child to Western executives, to no avail.But today &quot;Mighty Little Bheem&quot; is a global hit, as viewers seek alternatives to white-dominated storylines.From his mother&#x27;s sari to his love of laddoos, everything about the star toddler is Indian.His giant fan base stretches from Seattle to Sao Paulo, making it Netflix&#x27;s most popular show for preschoolers.Since its launch last year, it has been seen by more than 27 million households. It was Netflix&#x27;s top international release of 2019 in the United States, and a third season is now under way.But the nappy-wearing superhero&#x27;s journey from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad to Hollywood was not easy.&quot;I was thrown out of every office I went to,&quot; said Chilaka, who originally approached US television channels with the hope of taking &quot;Chhota Bheem&quot; (&quot;Little Bheem&quot;) -- his popular Indian show about a nine-year-old village boy with superhuman strength -- global.TV executives demurred, claiming children in the West would reject it because the setting was &quot;too bright and colorful&quot; and the protagonist was shirtless, Chilaka said.&quot;It didn&#x27;t really make sense to me. I mean, kids are drawn to color and Disney made &#x27;Jungle Book&#x27; -- a whole movie about a boy in his underwear -- years ago,&quot; he said.Although US studios regularly approach Indian animators to create English-language content at a lower price, the industry had never won acclaim for original productions.Then Netflix came calling.The streaming giant wanted to crack India&#x27;s massive entertainment market, and hoped a Bheem spin-off based on a baby version of Chilaka&#x27;s beloved superhero would help to do just that.<div>No translation needed</div>&quot;We really wanted to have a character that resonated for, first and foremost, our Indian members,&quot; Dominique Bazay, director of original animation for Netflix, told AFP.There was no question of Westernizing the content, she said.Bheem wears a traditional bindi -- a dot on the forehead -- and lives in a village where everyone is dressed in Indian clothing.Raised by a single mother, he crawls his way into every kind of mischief, occasionally including a cheeky monkey and baby elephant in his escapades.The company was not worried about how the show -- which has no dialogue -- would translate among overseas viewers, Bazay said.&quot;Kids are really willing to discover (new things) and their curiosity is boundless,&quot; she said.Nevertheless, few expected the adventures of Bheem and his furry friends to attract such a huge global audience, as it snapped up fans in the age of &quot;Black Panther&quot; and the growing demand for more diversity in entertainment.New Yorker Lisa-Michelle Houck told AFP her children, aged four and two, were fast fans of the show.Bheem&#x27;s fondness for laddoos -- a yellow Indian sweet -- was self-evident to them, she said. &quot;It&#x27;s just candy.&quot;<div>Laughter and lessons</div>Bheem&#x27;s antics -- from banging his toy drum non-stop to making a mess at home -- are instantly hilarious to young viewers.And for parents seeking a break from traditional kids&#x27; programming and its parade of pink-wearing princesses and white protagonists, the show is an easy way to introduce children to a more multicultural worldview.Bheem&#x27;s single-parent household offers important lessons on how &quot;there is no one right way to have a family,&quot; said Houck.She and her wife also wanted their mixed-race children to see that &quot;you don&#x27;t have to be white to be a superhero.&quot;For Bheem&#x27;s creator Chilaka, the success has been both stunning and sobering.&quot;When we started work, I was very conscious that this was the first animated show from India to find such a large platform,&quot; the 46-year-old said. &quot;It was a big load on my shoulders, because I knew it could open doors for others.&quot;Bheem&#x27;s journey from underdog to global phenomenon could prove a game changer for India&#x27;s animation industry, he added.It has already transformed the fortunes of Chilaka&#x27;s studio, Green Gold Animation, which has seen its staff numbers shoot up from 25 to around 1,200 people based in India, the US, Singapore and the Philippines.&quot;We are still pinching ourselves,&quot; Chilaka said, adding that he hopes to produce a movie about the toddler at some point.&quot;This little kid has turned my life upside down.&quot;<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

"Mighty Little Bheem" is a global hit, as viewers seek alternatives to white-dominated storylines.

"Mighty Little Bheem" is a global hit, as viewers seek alternatives to white-dominated storylines.

Mighty little global star: Netflix's Indian superhero toddler

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Mighty little global star: Netflix's Indian superhero toddler

Ammu Kannampilly,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 08, 2020 01:09 PM PHT

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Mighty Little Bheem

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