Dhvani Desai is an Indian
animation filmmaker, curator and poet. She is best known for her artistic animated films Manpasand (the Perfect Match) and Chakravyuh (The Vicious Circle).
Early life
Desai was born in an illustrious family of writers, poets & filmmakers in Mumbai. Her father, Dr Sudhir Desai, is a poet, thinker, and scholar. Her mother,
Tarini Desai, is a modern short story writer in
Gujarati. Her elder sister,
Sanskritirani Desai, is also a
Gujarati poet and brother Sanskar a senior Documentary Filmmaker [1]
Desai entered the field of animation in 1991.[1] She worked as a trainee at a computer animation studio, where she learned
2D animation. After this, she joined Xavier's Institute of Communication in Mumbai for formal training in
3D animation, before working in two animation studios.[2] Desai then joined the Computer Graphiti (at the time, a pioneer studio in the field of Indian animation) where she worked on numerous ads under guidance of Padmashri Ram Mohan combining 2D animation with live action & 3D, before establishing her own animation studio,[2] Metamorphosis, in Mumbai, which has produced animations and special effects for advertising films.[1]
The
Mahatma Gandhi Foundation produced and Desai co-directed with her elder brother, Sanskar, a short animation film, The Mahatma, and other five films which depicted the principles of
Gandhiji. The films were selected at the Tehran International Animation Festival in 2001 and at the
Mumbai International Film Festival.[1]
The
Children's Film Society of India produced and Desai directed an 11-minute long[3] animated film, Manpasand (The Perfect Match).[1] It was officially selected in various festivals in Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Greece, Turkey, Canada,Taiwan Kenya etc [1][4] and won several international Awards.[1][5] The
Panchatantra-based tale used the
Vaishnavite Sanjhi art style, a form of
stencil art,[6] and took over two years to make, with 42 artists working on it.[1][7]
Manpasand was nominated at the International Animation Film Festival in Hollywood and selected at several other international film festivals.[1] The film was screened at Hyderabad's The Golden Elephant (the 15th International Children's Film Festival) in November 2007[1][8] and was the inaugural film at the Asian Women's Film Festival in New Delhi in 2008.[9][10]
Chakravyuh (The Vicious Circle), her film first time on a legal act promoting awareness around India's
Right to Information Act (RTI), was produced by the Films Division and released on the 8th Anniversary of the RTI Act in an event organised by the Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), the Indian Merchants' Chamber's ( IMC ) Anti Corruption Cell, and Bombay Chartered Accountants Society. This film has won several awards and nomination worldwide [11][12]
Desai has been associated as festival curator for many international film festivals for animation programmes within India & abroad.
Awards
Gold Remi Award, 41st World Fest Houston, U.S.A. 2008 (for Manpasand — The Perfect Match)[13][14]
^"REMI Winners List 2008". WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival. September 2008. Archived from
the original(XLS) on 6 July 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2010.