The Silicon Review ^Asia

India's animation and VFX sector has doubled up in the past four years. The sector is gaining a lot of popularity and is globally recognized due to its creativity and content-oriented shows. Various reasons are provided for this growth, some universal, some specific to India. The report cites growing demand from over-the-top (i.e., streaming) services, noting the success story that is Mighty Little Bheem, Netflix's first animated series from India.

There is also a growing market for animated spin-offs from Bollywood franchises, such as the upcoming Dabangg (image at top) from Cosmos-Maya and Arbaaz Khan Productions. As for VFX, there is rising demand from both Bollywood and international producers. In both animation and VFX, the report also observes that overseas clients are starting to shift their outsourcing away from China due to "prevailing anti-China sentiment."

All these moves could benefit Indian service studios. Growth, of course, has come to a juddering halt this year. The recent report also suggests that the animation and VFX industries will grow big and more than halve in size in FY2021, plummeting to 49 billion rupees, a sharper fall than in any other segment bar films.