Delhi Safari

Delhi Safari

Indian theatrical release poster
Directed by Nikhil Advani
Produced by Anupama Patil
Kishor Patil
Written by Nikhil Advani
Girish Dhamija
Suresh Nair
Story by Nikhil Advani
Starring Akshaye Khanna
Govinda
Sunil Shetty
Boman Irani
Urmila Matondkar
Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Edited by Aarif Sheikh
Production
company
Krayon Pictures
Distributed by Applied Art Productions
Shemaroo Entertainment
(DVD)
Release dates
  • 19 October 2012 (2012-10-19)
Running time
 92 minutes
Country India
Language Marathi
Hindi
English
Budget INR 15,000,000 (estimated)
Box office ₹20 million (US$300,000)
(domestic nett gross)

Delhi Safari is a 2012 Indian bilingual stereoscopic 3D computer-animated comedy feature film directed by Nikhil Advani. It has been produced by Krayon Pictures (a Pune-based 3D animation studio). The film is based on a story and concept by Advani and features the voices of Akshaye Khanna, Govinda, Sunil Shetty, Boman Irani, and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay of the film is written by Girish Dhamija and Suresh Nair. The film traces the journey of five animals and birds from Mumbai to Delhi.[1] The music of the film is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, while the lyrics are penned by Sameer. It is India's first stereoscopic 3D animation feature film.[2] The film released in India on 19 October 2012. Delhi Safari has been granted exemption from entertainment tax in the states of Maharashtra and Delhi.[3] At the 60th National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Animated Film. The English version of the film has voices by Tom Kenny, Jason Alexander, Cary Elwes, Christopher Lloyd, Jane Lynch, Vanessa Williams and Brad Garrett. The international sales of the film is being handled by Fantastic Films International. The film was released in the United States on 7 December 2012.[4] Delhi Safari received a 17% score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a 37/100 in Metacritic.

Plot

Delhi Safari[5] is the story of a journey undertaken by a leopard cub, his mother, a monkey, a bear and a parrot when the forest they live in is on the verge of destruction. Builders have encroached upon their forest and the animals decide to go to Delhi and protest in front of the parliament and ask the parliament some very simple yet pertinent questions they were thinking of– why has man become the most dangerous animal? Doesn't man understand that if the forests and the animals don't co-exist with humans, the balance of the ecosystem will be endangered?

The film starts with Yuvraj (or 'Yuvi', for short) saying that he lost his father, Sultan (Sunil Shetty) in the morning, but doesn't want to lose his home in any cost. The film carries a flashback of the morning with Yuvi and Sultan playing in the forest while his mother, Begum (Urmila Matondkar) enters. The two say something that gets Begum angry and she goes. Soon, Begum forgives Sultan and Yuvraj (following a song- her one weakness). However, while coming back, a whole pack of bulldozers come from nowhere and proceed to demolish the surrounding jungle. Begum manages to escape, but Yuvi and Sultan are trapped. In a bid to save Yuvi, Sultan catches Yuvi in his mouth and tosses him to Begum. However, he himself is killed by a human wielding a shotgun, making the whole forest a large enemy of the humans. A talk happens with attendants of all the animals in the area. Many believe that leaving their homes is the only way to survive; however, Bajrangi, a monkey (Govinda), says that he would beat out the wits of those men, and asks whether anyone knows anyone who knows language of humans. A white bird pipes up, saying he knows someone. Yuvi meets the white bird the next day, and asks who is the one he said about. The white bird says the animal he spoke of is Alex (Akshaye Khanna), a parrot who lives with a director, Vikram. Bajrangi, his "army" of two monkeys, Bagga the bear (Boman Irani) and Yuvi go and kidnap the parrot and convince him to go to Delhi with them to talk to the parliament and save their land. After a few good and bad experiences, Begum tells that no one is going to Delhi after listening to a tiger's story of how he only survived death at a human's hands by being a coward and forsaking his old ways; thankfully, following a pep talk, Begum changes her mind as soon after she sees Sultan's spirit and, with renewed hope, proceeds to Delhi. They finally reach Delhi and tell their message through Alex. In the last scene, it is shown the jungle is saved courtesy of a shared land act and all are happy.

Cast

Release

Theatrical release

Delhi Safari was theatrically released in the United States and India in 2012.

International releases

Home media

Delhi Safari was released on DVD on June 18, 2013 by Shemaroo Entertainment.[6]

Reception

Critical response

Govinda was praised by critics for his performance.

Delhi Safari won the National Award for the Best Animation Film for the year 2012. Annecy Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film fests for animation, credited Delhi Safari as its "Official Selection" on 4 June 2012.[7] Delhi Safari also won the Best Feature Film (theatrical) award at FICCI FRAMES 2012.[8] Times of India gave Delhi Safari 3 stars.[9] Rohit Khilnani of rediff gave it 3.5 stars and called it a must watch.[10] Roshni Devi of koimoi gave it 2.5 stars.[11] Social film rating site MOZVO gave it 3.5 stars putting it in Recommended category.[12] Bollywood portal Films of India gave it 3 stars and said, "The movie is a step forward towards ecological awareness combined with fun, without being preachy." Rotten Tomatoes, a movie aggregator, gave Delhi Safari a "rotten" rating of 17%, along with receiving a 37/100 on Metacritic.[13][14] Multiple critics noted Delhi Safari's out-of-date and subpar animation. Some people noted that the character Alex the Parrot's lack of flight skills and fondness of the domesticated life was similar to the character Blu from Blue Sky Studios' Rio. Others felt that the story of Yuvi's father's death and his later appearance as a ghost was ripping off the story of Simba from Disney's The Lion King. The film was also widely criticized for its unoriginal plot, many believing the "Animal road-trip" and "stop the humans" storylines to be too similar to Dreamwork's Madagascar and Warner Brothers' Happy Feet respectively.

Box office

Despite the hype, the film failed at the box office with poor collections and losing money for the distributors and financiers. It was the lowest opening for any Bollywood film in USA in the history with less than $4000 total in 20 screens on opening day, and only 17.5 million nett during the first week.[15][16] Delhi Safari grossed US $1.55 million in China.[17]

Accolades

Delhi Safari qualified for the 2012 Oscars, and was listed in the "reminder list" for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature and Original Tunes. Delhi Safari was awarded the National Film Award, for the Best Animated Film,[18] it was named as Best Film in the animation category for the Screen Awards. It also won Best Feature Film award at FICCI Frames 2012. It won the best animated feature at Infocom Assocham EME awards 2013. At the 60th National Film Awards, it won the National Film Award for Best Animated Film.

Soundtrack

Delhi Safari
Soundtrack album by Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Recorded 2012
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Language Hindi
Label Artist Aloud
Shankar Ehsaan Loy chronology
Chittagong
(2012)		 Delhi Safari
(2012)		 Vishwaroopam
(2012)

All lyrics written by Sameer, all music composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.

Tracklist
No. TitleSinger(s) Length
1. "Dil Ki Safari"  Shankar Mahadevan, Raman Mahadevan, Shivam Mahadevan, Hamsika Iyer, Swini Khara 4:17
2. "Meri Duniya Terey Dam Se"  Shekhar Ravjiani, Mahalakshmi Iyer & Shivam Mahadevan 3:58
3. "Aao Re Pardesi"  Karsan Sargathia, Tarannum Mallik 3:58
4. "Dhadak Dhadak"  Shankar Mahadevan, Raghubir Yadav 2:14
5. "Jungle Mein Mangal"  Shankar Mahadevan 3:05
6. "To Forgive...To Forget"  Vanessa Williams, John Fluker 1:10

The title track was shortlisted among 75 songs are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 85th Academy Awards.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 'Ab Dilli Door Nahin'
  2. ↑ "> All About Cinema... >Delhi Safari to hit the screens in February". Indiantelevision.com. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-19.
  3. ↑ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/celebrities/features/type/view/id/4131
  4. ↑ Minovitz, Ethan (26 October 2012). "Kids’ Delhi Safari Hits U.S. Theaters December 7". Big Cartoon News. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Delhi Safari". nyootv.com. 8 August 2011.
  6. ↑ http://indiaeducationdiary.in/Shownews.asp?newsid=19470
  7. ↑ "Delhi Safari - lands an 'Official Selection' at the prestigious Annecy Film Festival 2012.". http://www.prhwy.com. Retrieved 11 June 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  8. ↑ "Delhi Safari – lands an ‘Official Selection’ at the prestigious Annecy Film Festival 2012.". http://www.information-online.com. Retrieved 11 June 2012. External link in |publisher= (help)
  9. ↑ "Delhi Safari". Times of India. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  10. ↑ "Review: Delhi Safari is a fun film". rediff. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "Delhi Safari Review". koimoi. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Delhi Safari Review". MOZVO. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  13. ↑ "Rotten Tomatoes Delhi Safari Review". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Metacritic Delhi Safari Review Metascore". Metacritic. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  15. ↑ http://www.boxofficeindia.com/youdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=5033&nCat=
  16. ↑ http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/indias-delhi-safari-disaster/
  17. ↑ "PK Top Overseas Grosser After China Weekend".
  18. ↑ "60th National Film Awards Announced" (PDF) (Press release). Press Information Bureau (PIB), Govt. of India.
  19. ↑ "75 Original Songs Tune Up For 2012 Oscar®". 11 December 2012. Retrieved 2012-12-13. Delhi Safari" from "Delhi Safari

External links

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