Today, Netflix debuts a new animated series about an upbeat girl, her best friend elephant, and a family that helps run a hotel in India. Deepa & Anoop, from co-creator Munjal Shroff, is Mattel’s first animated series based on original intellectual property. Shroff shares what makes the show fun and rewarding. (This Animation Scoop interview was conducted as an Email Q&A and edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: I’ve watched a couple episodes. It’s a sweet series. What were your goals in creating Deepa & Anoop?

Munjal Shroff: When my friend Lisa Goldman (and co-creator of the show) came to India in 2006 for the first time she just instantly fell in love with India and Indian culture and Bollywood. Back then one of India’s oldest English Newspapers Times of India used to feature news from Bollywood and Mumbai’s glitterati parties on Page 3. That was Lisa’s introduction to Bollywood and she loved it. Lisa was in Mumbai as we were doing a workshop with her for Writing for animation. At my studio Graphiti my partner Tilak Shetty, me and our mentor, the late Ram Mohan, were very keen to develop shows that allowed us to tell Indian stories and take Indian Culture to the world. We had just finished co-producing our first kids show with Nickelodeon which featured a hugely popular alien character called Jadoo (magic) from the Bollywood Blockbuster “Koi Mil Gaya”. It was a massive hit. We were very keen to create a show for the global market with an Indian flavour. So we decided to start developing a show with Lisa. We also wanted to create a show with very endearing characters that kids would love to grow up with. Hopefully along the way our creations could be a part of their beautiful childhood memories.

JM: You can tell how much these two love each other. How did you want to present the power of friendship in this series?

MS: Deepa and Anoop are best friends. They can spend hours playing with one another. Deepa and Anoop are the official welcoming party of Mango Manor and always eager to make the guests’ stay at Mango Manor memorable and comfortable. In the process Deepa would launch into her hyper-hospitality mode and she would just say “I know just what to do”. These words often spell trouble for Anoop. But still Anoop would happily assist Deepa with her plans to make the guests at Mango Manor comfortable. When Deepa would realize her mistake she would promptly apologise and make sure that she makes up for it. It’s a wonderful bond that they share.

JM: What are the benefits of having Anoop change colors?

MS: It immediately tells us what Anoop is feeling. His colour along with his big expressive eyes, his funky trunk and his big floppy ears, tell you exactly what Anoop is feeling. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could read everyone’s mood as easily as we can read Anoop’s mood?!

JM: In the dragon episode, there’s a cool song sequence about Deepa & Anoop preparing to fight the dragon. What do you enjoy about incorporating songs and fantastical scenes?

MS: Our inspiration for the songs is from Bollywood songs. Most Bollywood songs, especially in the older Bollywood movies, would transport the actors into fantastical places or exotic locations. We thought it would be fun to do that as Deepa solves all the problems, Bollywood style, one song at a time. Kids get to travel with Deepa and Anoop to these fun fantastical scenarios. The songs are peppy and kids will love to get up and dance and we hope that these songs get played at kids’ birthday parties and are on their playlist. I had actually compiled a Bollywood playlist for our music and sound design teams and they have done such an amazing job!

JM: How was it working with the folks at Mattel?

MS: It was an absolute delight to work with Christopher Keenan and his team at Mattel. The original on- minute teaser was done at my studio, Graphiti, and during this phase we worked closely with Phil Molloy and Courtney Arumugam. For the main production Teale Sperling and Jeffrey Hawley just made sure that despite the pandemic the production happened smoothly. They managed the production brilliantly so as creators Lisa, Heather and me could focus on the creation. They ensured that at each stage of production from scripts, animatics, animation, compositing and final mix they made sure our notes were meticulously addressed. I am very grateful to them and it was such a delight to work with the extremely talented team of Mattel.

JM: A year and a half ago I spoke with Gitanjali Rao about her Netflix animated film Bombay Rose, and she talked a little bit about the impact animation has in India. From your perspective, what does animation mean to kids, and mean to adults, in India?

MS: Animation is suspension of disbelief. Kids love to watch animation to get transported to fantastical worlds and be friends with absolute adorable characters like our 200 pound colour changing elephant, Anoop. It’s the same for kids in India. I am sure kids in India and around the world are going to love Deepa and Anoop. For adults, I think the scenario is a little different. The number of adults watching animation in India is definitely lower compared to North America, Europe, Japan or Korea. But with streaming platforms like Netflix offering shows targeted to adults, it’s changing. More people are experimenting and watching shows like BoJack Horseman or Love, Death + Robots and Castlevania. The adult animation segment is growing and the time is ripe for an homegrown animation show targeted to adults in India.

JM: Based on what Deepa, Anoop and her family do at Mango Manor, what do you think would be the most challenging and most fun parts of running a hotel?

MS: I think the most challenging part of running a hotel is ensuring the guests are happy. Every guest is unique and they all come to your hotel with different expectations. Some come to relax, some come for an adventure, some want to experience different cuisines but at the end of the day every guest wants to be pampered. Taking care of guests can also be fun when it’s done Deepa style! You can see that Deepa and Anoop love to make their guests feel special and have a whole lot of fun doing just that!

JM: How do you hope families are inspired by Deepa & Anoop, and how has this show changed your life?

MS: I think Deepa’s family is so warm and affectionate. They love each other so much. They accept each other as they are and focus on their positives and overlook their shortcomings by simply laughing it off. I think if we can inspire the same feeling in our audience then it would be so wonderful. I am also hoping that as our audience gets a taste of Indian culture it would urge them to experience more of it. The journey with Deepa & Anoop started in 2006 and it’s been such a fun ride for Lisa, Heather and me. We have thoroughly enjoyed bringing these characters to life and all the people who joined us on this journey have all fallen in love with Deepa and Anoop and in some way enriched them. We are very grateful to the wonderful, talented teams at Mattel and Netflix who made this possible.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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