Creativity and imagination was always a part of Bony Pinto’s life growing up. He was fascinated by the colours and the visual appeal it brings into life. A trained artist, Pinto participated in painting and drawing competitions during school and college. After working for many years on a number of animation projects both nationally and internationally and bagging an Emmy nomination for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pinto ventured into becoming something he never thought he would be – a published author.
“I was always inclined towards art as a child,” recalls Pinto, Animation Director at Nickelodeon Dedicated Unit @ Xentrix, in conversation with Medianews4u.com.
“I always wanted to pursue a career where I can combine my creativity and world of imagination, hence ended up in the animation profession. It was the mid-2000s and the term animation hadn’t grown the way we see it today. I started my career with Toonz Media Group and had spearheaded projects like Tenali Raman and was part of productions like Legend of Ring of Fire for Walt Disney Animation Studio. Thereafter I worked for different companies in India and abroad. It was one of those days when I suddenly got the urge to write a short story,” he adds.
It took him a few days to complete his first short story, and many more to finish the book of 20.
“I was never a voracious reader. I used to draw and attend art classes as a kid. I have learnt mural painting. Over time I wrote about 20 short stories,” notes Pinto.
His first set of short stories had a lot of personal elements to it.
Pinto explains, “I believe for any writer; their initial work will have some autobiographical elements attached to it. The 20 short stories were connected with my life in a way or the other. Hence, it was easy for me to bring in those nuances to it. After completing the first story, I started reading and learning about the art of storytelling and writing. Being an animator, I always believe in the power of storytelling.”
The short story collection which he started writing in his mid-20s was completed in his mid-30s. The book titled Mukhangalude Prashnam (The Problem with the faces) was published by Current Books, Kerala and received positive reviews from readers.
The Anatomy of Storytelling
“Finding a publisher is not an easy task,” confesses the animator-cum-writer.
“There are always takers for novels because storytelling in novels is easy to elaborate. It is not the case with short stories. We say it jokingly that in a short story if anything is mentioned about a gun in the beginning, then it should be used to shoot by the time the story ends. The words should be crisp and to the point, as there are word limitations and no space to elaborate. It took me three years to become a published author. When it comes to the stories in ‘Mukhangalude Prashnam’ I was so particular that all the stories should be different from each other. I have received positive reviews for the book and whoever has read my book has told me that the stories are visually enriched. I believe this should be attributed to my visual and animation background,” Pinto elucidates.
“Just like three primary colours in the colour world, there are only 36 types of plots/ stories. We cannot make any other types of stories other than these 36 types of stories. After knowing this, I wanted to try one kind of story from each of these plots and wanted the short stories to look different from each other,” reveals the writer.
As an animator, Pinto has also been part of projects like Fast and Furious-Spy Racers for Dreamworks TV, Gabby’s Dollhouse for Netflix and Robot and Monster for Nickelodeon, among others.
Apart from writing, Pinto has other passions like painting and short film making.
“I have made four to five short films; all of these are on an experimental basis – that is, shot on my mobile phone. I have completed a mural painting during the pandemic period. For me, whether it is writing or painting or short films, all these are ways of expressing my thoughts in ways of storytelling. I consider writing as the best way to express or communicate our ideas to the world,” he says.
They say once the storytelling bug bites, there is no stopping it. That is certainly true for Pinto, who is currently working on his first novel, after exploring the world of short stories and short films.
“I have almost finished writing my first novel. Certain parts required re-writing and fine tuning, which I am working on currently. Hopefully, I will be able to publish it soon,” signs off Pinto.
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