Lights, camera, reaction

Here’s the inner piece on DreamWorks Animation’s recently released Kung Fu Panda 2. Pitting Po, the panda, against Lord Shen, a peacock, has resulted in animated debate in India. Some are reading between the lines to draw a parallel with an India-China tussle, BRIC nations-style.

When India’s national bird takes on China’s national animal, the plot thickens with Shen belonging to the rare Indian albino peafowl species.

Indian ad guru Prahlad Kakkar agrees. “The Chinese are making a case here: India has usurped their territory and they want it back,” he says. “The only inaccuracy was that gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, while in the movie it’s the peacock’s secret weapon. The Mughals brought gunpowder from Central Asia and that played a huge part in winning wars here.”

However, Shen’s evil plans to rule China, wipe out the art of kung fu, and the panda population, do not work out
in accordance with China’s supremacy in BRIC.

While any romance between Tigress and Po is unknown, the two have certainly become good friends. With the tiger being India’s national animal, can we expect some kissing and making up between the two nations in the next installment?— Judhajit Basu