Abhimanyu Singh: A Pioneer Of Motion Capture Technology On Indian Miniscreens
Abhimanyu Singh
Founder & Producer
The story of Contiloe is also the story of its founder, Abhimanyu Singh, and his passion for storytelling. A pioneer in producing Historical & Mythological shows, Abhimanyu kick started his television production journey more than two decades ago as an independent producer for Doordarshan under the banner of Contiloe. Over the years, he has successfully produced over 60 shows which include various genres that cover historical, crime, horror, thriller, events, formats, comedies, animation, and mini series, featuring nearly 7000+ hours of content. This includes the latest hit television series like the State of Siege: 26/11, and Mahayoddha Rama, which won the National Award in the Best Animation Film category for 3D animation, and movies like ‘Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy'. CEO Insights engages in an exclusive interaction with Abhimanyu to explore more about his journey and Contiloe’s latest projects.
You began your television production journey 20 years back in the mid-90s. What inspired you to venture into thisindustry? What major aspects of your professional life and organization motivate you today?
In school, I had a fascination for music; in fact, in a class of eighty students, I was one of the three that took up music as a subject to major in. Learning music pushed my imagination into creating tunes and melodies. It was my first experience as a storyteller, and since then, I have always been inspired to create new stories and narrate them in interesting ways with the help of technology.
Contiloe has witnessed the entire technology revolution in the reel world over the past two decades. What makes it unique, and how is the production house setting quality benchmarks for the produced content?
Contiloe, as a company, has always adopted and adapted to new technologies. We believe that technology always helps us make stories and narrate them for a new consumer experience. We have always used it as an effective tool to enable us as storytellers.
Contiloe has a strong portfolio. Its mega budget Historical & Mythological content has a wide, special fan base. How do you select the areas that create such an impact and fan base?
I am always inspired by real life events, and hence a lot of my stories have revolved around history, mythology, military, and crime. This is the central idea around which we select and create our content.
Over the past two decades of your professional journey, which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction?
There have been many challenges that I have faced, personally and professionally, on this journey. Each one of them has taught me fantastic lessons in life. For example, the lack of good visual effects and animation studios compelled me to create our own VFX facility Illusion Reality Studioz. This has helped us immensely control the quality of
In school, I had a fascination for music; in fact, in a class of eighty students, I was one of the three that took up music as a subject to major in. Learning music pushed my imagination into creating tunes and melodies. It was my first experience as a storyteller, and since then, I have always been inspired to create new stories and narrate them in interesting ways with the help of technology.
Push your boundaries, and imagine new ones. This is the golden age for story tellers
Contiloe has witnessed the entire technology revolution in the reel world over the past two decades. What makes it unique, and how is the production house setting quality benchmarks for the produced content?
Contiloe, as a company, has always adopted and adapted to new technologies. We believe that technology always helps us make stories and narrate them for a new consumer experience. We have always used it as an effective tool to enable us as storytellers.
Contiloe has a strong portfolio. Its mega budget Historical & Mythological content has a wide, special fan base. How do you select the areas that create such an impact and fan base?
I am always inspired by real life events, and hence a lot of my stories have revolved around history, mythology, military, and crime. This is the central idea around which we select and create our content.
Over the past two decades of your professional journey, which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction?
There have been many challenges that I have faced, personally and professionally, on this journey. Each one of them has taught me fantastic lessons in life. For example, the lack of good visual effects and animation studios compelled me to create our own VFX facility Illusion Reality Studioz. This has helped us immensely control the quality of
content and explore new technologies. Similarly, my constant challenge of managing large scale productions in a disorganized studio culture forced me to set up our own studio facility next to Mumbai. This, in turn, has helped us create huge facilities housed over 25 acres to enable us to fulfill our needs for high quality premium quality production.
State of Siege: Temple Attack recently received a phenomenal response and hit an IMDB rating of eight. What’s the future road map set for Contiloe? What are projects in the pipeline?
State of Siege 26/11 was our first digital show in the web space. It received a phenomenal response from the viewers and trade likewise. We endeavored to tell the untold story of the NSG response against the Mumbai terror attacks. It obviously gave an editorial insight into why it took more than seventy-two hours to liberate Mumbai of its attackers. Additionally, it gave an insight into the role of media, etc. We also took the viewers into Pakistan to show them the making of Ajmal Kasab and the planning of the terror attack. This fresh perspective really caught the viewers’ attention, and therefore it led to the creation of the state of siege as a franchise. The success of State of Siege Temple Attack has reinforced the strength of this franchise, and we are working on the next season as we speak.
In the light of your experience in the industry, what will be your advice to budding entrepreneurs in the industry?
Push your boundaries and imagine new ones. This is the golden age for storytellers.
Abhimanyu Singh, Founder & Producer, Contiloe Pictures
A pioneer in producing Historical & Mythological shows, Abhimanyu kick started his television production journey more than two decades ago as an independent producer for Doordarshan under the banner of Contiloe. Over the years, he has successfully produced over 60 shows which include various genres that cover historical, crime, horror, thriller, events, formats, comedies, animation, and mini-series, featuring nearly 7000+ hours of content.
State of Siege: Temple Attack recently received a phenomenal response and hit an IMDB rating of eight. What’s the future road map set for Contiloe? What are projects in the pipeline?
State of Siege 26/11 was our first digital show in the web space. It received a phenomenal response from the viewers and trade likewise. We endeavored to tell the untold story of the NSG response against the Mumbai terror attacks. It obviously gave an editorial insight into why it took more than seventy-two hours to liberate Mumbai of its attackers. Additionally, it gave an insight into the role of media, etc. We also took the viewers into Pakistan to show them the making of Ajmal Kasab and the planning of the terror attack. This fresh perspective really caught the viewers’ attention, and therefore it led to the creation of the state of siege as a franchise. The success of State of Siege Temple Attack has reinforced the strength of this franchise, and we are working on the next season as we speak.
In the light of your experience in the industry, what will be your advice to budding entrepreneurs in the industry?
Push your boundaries and imagine new ones. This is the golden age for storytellers.
Abhimanyu Singh, Founder & Producer, Contiloe Pictures
A pioneer in producing Historical & Mythological shows, Abhimanyu kick started his television production journey more than two decades ago as an independent producer for Doordarshan under the banner of Contiloe. Over the years, he has successfully produced over 60 shows which include various genres that cover historical, crime, horror, thriller, events, formats, comedies, animation, and mini-series, featuring nearly 7000+ hours of content.