It's something people have labelled me, mainly because I've been in animation for 52 years.

But have you always been interested in animation?

Actually, I used to love drawing cartoons, but only as a hobby. I had never considered a career in animation simply because there was no career available in animation at that time!

So how did that change?

You see, I started in 1956 when the government of India's film division set up a cartoon unit. They did it as part of the Planned Publicity Programme's first five years' plan. They intended to use cartoon animation as a medium to tell the people what the government's plans were. It was about communicating social messages: how to be environment friendly, how to prevent diseases like malaria, etc. Animation is a very friendly medium, as people find the characters very accessible, children and parents alike.

All of this was made possible by the US Technical Aid programme, which was sponsored by the US government in 1956. They sent Walt Disney expert animator Clair Weeks to set up a proper animation studio, with proper equipment, that was to be used by the new cartoon unit.

So, because I was interested in cartooning, I thought I'd just go meet Clair Weeks, not expecting anything in the way of a career, as I had no certification or formal background. But when I showed him my cartoons, he liked them and asked me to join his training programme. That's how I got into the government of India's film division's cartoon unit.

From that point, I realised that I could make animation a career, rather than science, which is what I had previously been studying. In fact, had that not happened, I might never have left the lab!

So how has the industry changed since then? How have you seen it grow?

It's changed as both a craft and as an industry.

As a craft, initially, when I got into animation, it was entirely hand-drawn, two-dimensional and everything was done on paper. The old ink and pen process, it's called. Well, it all changed, starting around 1995. That's when we started using software. Since then, practically the entire process has been converted to digital technology, with software like Maya, etc. And certainly, the new technologies have helped a lot, because they make the production processes a lot less tedious. It's more convenient.

So these changes are good. But there are certain things, like animation itself and getting performance out of characters, where people should be trained in the classical two-dimensional techniques. Then, later on, a good classical two-dimensional animation can easily be converted using digital software.

And of course, the creative aspect, the conceptual process and the pre-production, where we visualise characters and design storyboards, these are still done essentially on paper, like we used to do in the old days.

As for the industry, for a long time, even after I got into the private sector, in 1968, animators were mostly used by the advertising industries: commercials, marketing campaigns and advertisements. The industry comprised little boutiques, with about six or ten artists, who would make 10-second and 30-second commercials. And they were essentially teaching themselves, because there were so few proper studios. My own Ram Mohan Biographics, though it was a well-known name, never had more than 10-15 people at that time, and we too mostly worked in advertising.

Only in the 1990s did this huge growth come about, mainly because some entrepreneurs, like Ronnie Screwvalla from UTV, decided to invest in this digital software and set up the industry. I collaborated with him to start UTV Toons. Then, he and others managed to bring in some contracted work outsourced from other places, mainly the States. That's when animation really took off and become a diamond industry. This happened around 1995.

Since then, animation has grown pretty rapidly. It has become a major career option for young kids who are interested in art, painting and drawing.