‘My dad worshipped his Hindu gods and I would pray to mine’

Apple Inc’s Pixar is known for delivering animated family entertainers, and introducing a new short film with the feature movie each time. With the release of The Good Dinosaur, the audiences also got the chance to watch Sanjay Patel’s Sanjay’s Super Team, which was recently shortlisted for Best Animated Short Oscar last month.

An immigrant from Gujarat, the long-time Pixar artist Sanjay Patel was completely engrossed in his world of comic books and superheroes while growing up in San Bernardino in the 80s. Apart from his world of superheroes, Sanjay tells us that he also had another world to fit in, the world where he performed day-to-day Hindu rituals and prayers with his father. The film follows the story of a young Indian boy who is asked to turn off the TV and join his father for Hindu meditation. Irritated by the idea of missing out on his favourite cartoon show, the kid soon starts to daydream.

In a chat with The Asian Age, Sanjay, who is making his directorial debut, speaks about his short film, his conflict and connection with Hindu rituals, the reason behind him going back to his roots among, many other things.

You were a student when you joined Pixar. At what age did you enter the world of cartoons and animations, and when did it become more than just a field of interest In my freshman year of high school a fellow classmate told me about CalArts — an art school built by Walt Disney to train his animators. I knew at that moment that I wanted to go there. This is your first short film. Tell us about Sanjay’s Super Team. How far is the short film similar to your relationship with your father The short film is based on my experience of growing up with my father in the US. Every morning he would get up and worship his Hindu gods, and I would pray to mine (the superheroes on TV). I never really understood my father or his practices until I grew up and discovered South Asian art. Then I started to read about Hindu mythologies and deities.

When did you decide that you wanted to make a short film Was it always an ambition It was not my ambition to make a short at Pixar. When the studio approached me to make one, I was at crossroads with my career at the studio. Having spent the previous decade working by day at Pixar and at night writing and illustrating picture books and graphic novels based of Hindu mythology — it felt like it’s time to decide on one or the other. It was a hard decision but I decided to forego the safety and security of Pixar to pursue my personal work. This is when the studio approached me to bring my personal work to work and try and develop it as a short.

Initially, I was skeptical if the studio would really give me the freedom to creatively pursue material that was both so personal and so culturally specific. It was only after talking to my dad and directly asking him what I should do, did I finally decide to try and develop/direct this project. Pixar absolutely supported the creative direction. You published published graphic novels and picture books on Hindu mythology with a touch of modern culture. What prompted you to get back to your roots In my 30s, I was listening to a lot of Goa Trance music. I started to notice a lot of my parent’s iconography in the artwork associated with the music — this got me curious to know more about it. Once I got a little taste of that, I wanted my peers to know how cool it was. And the easiest way to do that was through my books. What comes next for you I am looking forward to getting back to working for another director on upcoming feature projects here at Pixar, returning to working on my personal art, and raising my son.