Oscar goes to Gujarati animator

Akshat Dave / TNN / Feb 26, 2008, 00:56 IST

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Apurva Shah, a Gujarati who has works as an animator in hollywood flicks has a bigger reason to celebrate as the award for Best Animated Feature went to Ratatouille at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.

Apurva Shah, a Gujarati who has works as an animator in hollywood flicks has a bigger reason to celebrate as the award for Best Animated Feature went to Ratatouille at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.Apurva Shah, a Gujarati who has works as an animator in hollywood flicks has a bigger reason to celebrate as the award for Best Animated Feature went to Ratatouille at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.Apurva Shah, a Gujarati who has works as an animator in hollywood flicks has a bigger reason to celebrate as the award for Best Animated Feature went to Ratatouille at the 80th Annual Academy Awards.AHMEDABAD: He made thousands smile with his animations and special effects in Oscar-winning films like Shrek and Finding Nemo. And now this Gujarati, who has roots in Godhra, has a bigger reason to celebrate. As soon as the award for Best Animated Feature went to Ratatouille at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles on late Sunday night, Apurva Shah's excitement knew no bounds.
Shah played a dual role in the film. Besides being overall in-charge of all the special effects and animation, he was also involved in defining the look of the film along with the film's director Brad Bird, production designer Harley Jessup and director of photography Robert Anderson.
"It's great to win an Oscar. This is my third film to have won this prestigious award after Shrek and Finding Nemo. So far it's been a good streak at the Oscars for me," Shah told TOI on the phone from Los Angeles after the award was declared. While he studied in Mumbai, Shah's father is from Godhra and his mother belongs to Nadiad. "I am not worried about the future. I don't want to burden myself with expectations. I just want to give my best in whatever I do," he added.
"The real challenge for us was creating computer-generated food animation that would appear delicious. We attended several cooking classes and consulted gourmet chefs in the US and France." In fact, they even consulted a rat expert to ensure that they get the rodents' habits right.
Shah dedicates his success to his wife Purvi, who is from Ahmedabad. Apart from the Oscar, Ratatouille also grabbed Golden Globe, BAFTA and Grammy awards in different categories along with other 33 awards.

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