MUMBAI: UTV Toons‘ animation series Meena in the City has bagged the runner up award in the Asian Technical and Creative Awards 2002 in the Best 2D Animation category.
Meena in the City revolves around Meena, a girl child born in India, who suffers on account of gender inequality. The series, made for UNICEF, has been telecast in several countries in Asia and elsewhere, according to UTV Toons business development manager Jyotirmoy Saha. Meena won the award for the characterization, attention to detail, style and finesse, says Saha.

The five year old wing of UTV Software, UTV Toons ranks among the region‘s top animation outsourcing destinations for both Flash and Traditional animation, with a repertoire of clients from Europe, North America and Asia. The animation production house currently has four projects on hand, three of them for North American clients.

Among UTV Toons‘ other projects, Jo Kilat for TV12 has earlier been awarded the best children‘s TV programme in Bahasa Malaysia. The series depicts the adventures of 12 year old Jo Kilat and his friends. Another series made for Unicef, Sara, highlights problems of teenage pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, which are burning issues in South Africa.

MUMBAI: It‘s a unique way to celebrate a first anniversary. But trust Star Plus to take the innovative route even when it comes to something as simple as two of its shows completing one year of telecast.

The fact that both Khullja Sim Sim and Kya Masti Kya Dhuum will turn one during the extended ‘Independence weekend‘ has probably also prompted the channel into getting the respective anchors to switch roles for the anniversary edition. At 8 pm on KMKD, host Aman Verma will take the place of Sonali Bendre. The lady on the other hand, will take Verma‘s post as anchor of the game show at 9 pm.

Kya Masti Kya Dhuum has had, till date, over 250 children participating with 65 celebrities - Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Fardeen Khan, Aftab Shivdasani, Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Salman Khan, Esha Deol among them. Khullja Sim Sim has had 500 participants for prizes worth over Rs 60 million, of which Rs 25 million worth of prizes have been disbursed over 52 episodes (including Rs 1 million worth of cars).

According to Verma, "I‘ve never done theatre before, but the very first schedule of Khullja Sim Sim itself helped me learn to control my voice. I‘ve learnt a lot from Khullja Sim Sim - dealing with live audiences, which is about 400-odd people. This has instilled confidence in me. The popularity I got for Khullja Sim Sim, helped several other shows to come my way. Life has taken a turnaround."