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Disney, Yash Raj Films set to release animated Hindi flick 'Roadside Romeo'

London, October 24 ANI: Disney is all set to enthrall Bollywood audiences with an animated Hindi flick, entitled 'Roadside Romeo'. The film, a joint venture between Walt Disney Pictures and Yash Raj Films, revolves around a pampered pet dog named Romeo after he is abandoned on the streets of Mumbai. It has been written by the Bollywood actor Jugal Hansraj, who is making his debut as a director. Hansraj has revealed that Mumbai's legions of stray dogs are the inspiration behind the flick. He has also revealed that the animation is entirely the work of the Mumbai-based Tata Elxsi outfit. "I have always loved animation films since my childhood. I have grown up on them and to work with Disney was a fantastic experience," the Telegraph quoted Hansraj as saying. The producers hope that the 90-minute movie will be a hit over the coming Diwali festive period. Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, and Jaaved Jaaferi have lent their voices to the films characters. Mahesh Samat, Walt Disney Company India's managing director, described the expansion into Indian-made animation films as a logical step. "Yash Raj Films are experts in the Bollywood idioms and the local style of story-telling and we are happy to work with them in producing our first local full-length animation feature," he said. "While we understand that this is a relatively nascent market for animation films, we are confident that there's a large market for decent family entertainment here. "Animation films work equally well as live action films the world over and there is no reason why they would not work here as well," he added. Though Samat refused to reveal how much Disney was spending in India, he said that they would fork out "whatever is required to execute these projects to world-class standards". "We have currently four live action films in the pipeline, which we are producing ourselves. Zokkomon is a film which will star Darsheel Safari and the second is 19th Step, starring Kamal Hassan," he said. "We have also started working on our second animation script with Yash Raj Films," he added. ANI