A glimpse of the Magic that is making news...

New Delhi, April 2

It’s time to wave the magic wand once again and conjure that extra dimension on the silver screen with Shringar Films’ release of a Navodaya presentation, "Chota Jadugar", a 3D film in Hindi, and called "Magic Magic" in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam this summer. It’s another magical fantasy tale targeted at the family audience and scheduled to hit the silver screen by April 11. Time for Harry Potter to move over, "Chota Jadugar" is here.

Directed by Jose Punnoose, "Chota Jadugar" promises to show great potential, as it will expose a whole new generation of audiences to the 3D experience with the last one being the re-release of "Chota Chetan" in 1997. The lead characters of this 3D film wonder are an eight-year-old prankster who is also a young magician played by Master Suraj S. Balajee (child actor of Santosh Sivan’s "Asoka"), a cute little dog, Barkley, featured in the Oscar winning Hollywood film "American Beauty", and the boy’s grandfather, a grand old magician, portrayed by singer/actor S. Balasubramaniam.

Ninety per cent of the film was completed in and around Manhattan. A team of 22 actors and technicians from India supported by a team of 30 actors, 38 other performing dogs and technicians from New York worked for 70 days. The dogs were provided by five major animal suppliers in Los Angeles and New York who have worked in several Hollywood productions like "Naked Gun", "Silence of the Lambs", "Waterworld", "Baby’s Day Out," "Home Alone 2" etc. The film was shot in the concrete jungles of Midtown and Lower Manhattan as well as against the colourful autumn backdrop of Central Park.

"Chota Jadugar" is being released simultaneously in four languages - Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam - across the country. Navodaya Films, the makers of the first Indian 3D movie, "Chota Chetan", in 1984 have made their second 3D film after a yawning gap of 17 years. "Chota Chetan", besides winning the President’s Gold Medal, was also a huge box office success, fetching around Rs 60 crore at the box office during 1984-85. The movie was re-released with additional footage and digital sound upgrade during 1997-98 with the box office amassing Rs 50 crore during that period.

"Chota Jadugar" is a heart-warming story about a child, a dog, their friendship and magic. Indrajith is an aspiring magician being trained by his magician grandfather Acharya. Much to Indrajith’s dismay, his father, Krishna, does not approve of his son’s passion for magic and plans to take Indrajith with him to America. Acharya convinces Indrajith to go with his father on the pretext that Indrajith will perform his inaugural magic show in America. Once Indrajith reaches the USA and realizes all is not well he escapes from home and befriends a dog. Raja, a street dog adept at stealing wallets and handbags, has escaped from the clutches of his evil master, Rob. Together, Indrajith and Raja undertake a magical journey across the streets of New York City. Indrajith has only one mission in mind - magic and Destination India.