Meanwhile, the Foreign Animation

India is making a number of animated features for domestic consumption. For many of them, local critics haven't been kind:

The artwork in Mahabharat is appalling and the animation is worse. From the movements of the characters to the visual effects - like two arrows going at each other - it looks like a pirated and outdated version of MS Paint was used to create the film.

The movements of the characters are awkward and jerky, making it look like the mythical heroes learned how to walk from Godzilla. The battle scenes are not only badly drawn and animated, they're also boring.

This new Mahabharata isn't so much a kid-friendly version as one made for dummies, by dummies.

Yeowch. Stop beating around the bush and tell us what you really think.

Mahabharat might offer a clue why Chris Meledandri of Illumination Entertainment set up his production studio in Paris rather than Mumbai. The wages are higher, but the results appear to be better. (And there are those tax subsidies. Yum!)

It does our entertainment conglomerates no good to make cheap animated features that make little money. Most of them have figured this out.