Where did you get this unusual title from and what is the film’s story?
As for the title, we were in a bit of a quandry for we had to project war between both red and black ants properly in the title. Since ants are called ‘cheenti’ in Hindi, we decided to title the film Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang. The film is based on a Bengali novel ‘Lal Kalo’ though a lot of changes have been effected. We have also dramatised some portions for filming purpose. It is a story of two kingdoms of ants (red and black ants) who are at loggerheads with each other. However, it is not a battle story altogether. There is a romantic twist too, as the Prince and Princess of the warring kingdoms fall in love. The film in fact works on the premise that - War Never Pays. It endeavours to drive home the point that unity and peace are the driving factor’s for a nation’s health.

Does the title not sound like the English film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Yes, this 80-minute long film has which seems to draw on the title of 1964 children’s book by Bond-creator Ian Fleming’s - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, (which later inspired the 1968 film by the same name) is neither a copy nor an inspired version of it.

What is Elecom Fiesta Entertainment?
Elecom group is based in Kolkata, the work of which has been well-received by all including Walt Disney. A subsidiary, Elecom Toon is a part of USD 74 million. Fiesta is Mumbai-based complete post-production facility, which in last three years has been involved in post-production of major blockbusters like Munnabhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Corporate, Bhoot, Koi Mil Gaya, Iqbaal, Murder, Hum Tum, Kaho Na Pyar Hai and many more. R.D. Mallik-the CEO of the Elecom Group happens to be the father-in-law of Anirvan Ghosh, my partner. It so happened that once while all the three of us were sitting in discussion, Mallik raised the issue of making an animation film saying that such films had a big market worldwide. I liked the idea immensely and jumped for it. However, I told them, however, that I would not be able to devote my full time for the same. Chairman of Elecom, Sushil Baithey, Mallik and we met finally to decide and form a company called Ellecom Fiesta Entertainment Private Ltd..

Why an animation film on debut?
Produced by a joint venture company Elecom-Fiesta Entertainment Pvt. Limited, Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang, marks the coming together of two industry giants. The film is incidentally our maiden foray into film production.

Who has supervised the animation?
The animation work of Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang is the mark of creative genius of its director and chief animator Niloy who is an amazing artiste and personality. He has given a breathtaking effect to the film via the animation work. Let me tell you one thing, initially we created the animated characters and secured the copyright of the same.

How is the animation work being done?
We have around 100 animators working round the clock for the project. All this to meet the dealine. We plan to release the film in December.

What about the voiceovers? Are there any named personality?
Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang features the voices of well-known actors like Ashish Vidyarthi, Mahesh Manjrekar, Asrani and Anjan Srivastva.

Are there any songs in the films?
The film having awe-inspiring of Nida Fazli has the voices of Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Kunal Ganjawala, Sudesh Bhosle and Rashid Khan. Of the six songs in the film, the music score of which is by Jeet, the discerning audience will find music in all its shades - sad, patriotic, funny, romantic, classical and DJ mix variety.

You are dubbing the film in several Indian languages?
Yes, we are making the film in Tamil, Telegu, Bhojpuri, Marathi, Gujarati, Assamese and Kannada besides Hindi, Bengali and English.

You are touting the film to be the country’s most costliest.
Yes, the animation work of the film has cost us Rs 4 crore while the post-production is going to cost us around a crore. Besides we will be going in for publicity in a big way with merchandising, gifts etc. Totalyy, the film would have cost us Rs 11 crore by the time the film is released.

Any other film in the pipeline?
Soon after the post-production of this film is complete, we will announce our second film, a comedy, which will also be based on a Bengali novel. Moreover, we intend producing five animation films in five years.