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Meet JUGAL HANSRAJ – Bollywood Actor, Filmmaker and Author of the “Cross Connection: The Big Circus Adventure”
What happens when the souls of two loveable circus animals get switched and commotion that ensues in a circus, Cross Connection by Jugal Hansraj!!
Today on the Reading with Your Kids Podcast, we’re ELATED to be joined by a Bollywood film actor, National Award-winning film director and a debut author Jugal Hansraj who joins us for an exclusive interview to discuss his delightful book “Cross Connection: The Big Circus Adventure”, What inspired him to become an author and what influenced his story. We’re sure you’ll enjoy listening to Jugal and his fascinating story as much as we enjoyed hearing about it!
Learn More about JUGAL HANSRAJ
Jugal Hansraj started facing the camera for commercials at the age of two and continued doing commercials (press and TV) till his early teens. The notable ad campaigns included Nutramul, Vicks Vaporub, Saffola and many more.
His first feature film as a child actor starring in the main role at the age of nine was the acclaimed “Masoom”, the first feature film directed by Shekhar Kapur (“Bandit Queen”, “Elizabeth”, “Four Feathers”, and “Elizabeth – The Golden Age”). It released in January 1983. He then went on to do another five feature films as a child actor right up to his early teens.
Jugal returned as a lead actor at the age of 21, with his first film releasing in May 1994. He did several more films as a lead actor, the more notable ones being “Papa Kahte Hain” (May 1996), which was produced/directed by Mahesh Bhatt and “Mohabbatein” (October 2000), which was produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Aditya Chopra. Along with lead roles he also did strong character and supporting parts in films and TV shows before he turned writer and director.
His first film as writer and director was “Roadside Romeo” (October 2008). This was the first full-length computer graphic animation feature film made in India. It was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Yash Raj Films as a co-production. It was also the first film that Walt Disney Pictures produced in India. It starred the voices of Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Jaaved Jaffery. It won the National Award from the President of India for Best Director (Animation Film), Best Film (Animation Film) and Technical Award for Best Animation. It also won Best Animation Film at the Cairo International Film Festival, judged by an international jury of children. A song
sequence from the film was also nominated for the Visual Effects Society Awards in Los Angeles for Best Animated Sequence alongside sequences from Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. It also won awards for Best Animation Film and Best Director (Animation Film) at the Screen Awards, India and at Frames FICCI.
His second film as a director was the romantic comedy “Pyaar Impossible” (January 2010). This was produced by Yash Raj Films and starred one of the leading female stars Priyanka Chopra along with Uday Chopra. It was filmed extensively in Singapore and Mumbai.
In June 2012, Jugal was invited by Film Victoria to host a Master Class session at the Indian Film Festival Melbourne, Australia. The session was on the subject of animation in India and his experiences in making the first animation feature in India, and in co-production possibilities between India and Victoria State for animation features.
In 2013/2014 Jugal hosted several episodes of AVS TV in New York. AVS TV is a leading Bollywood based weekly news TV show. Jugal has also recently starred in a Hindi language feature film after quite a few years.The film is titled “Kahaani 2” – directed by Sujoy Ghosh and starring Vidya Balan. It
was released worldwide on 2nd December 2016.
Jugal is now also a published author with his first novel for children titled “Cross Connection” having been released in December 2017 in bookstores and as e-versions by leading Indian publishing house Rupa Publications.
Currently Jugal is working as Head of Creative Development for New Projects since September 2014 with producer Karan Johar and his company Dharma Productions, which is one of the leading film production companies in India.
More about Cross Connection: The Big Circus Adventure
When the animals of the ‘The Great Indian Circus’ found their lives all topsy-turvy, they realized that turning the world around takes a lot more than just circus acts.Chunky the Funky monkey and Bhole Ram the Brave are among the performing animals of The Great Indian Circus. While Chunky spends most of his time playing pranks on others, Bhole Ram is a shy and gentle elephant who ends up bearing the brunt of Chunky’s mischief. Things take a turn when their bodies get switched in a freak accident and they are forced to live each other’s lives. A cosmic cross connection that leads to complete confusion all around! Trapped in each other’s bodies, Bhole Ram and Chunky learn to put aside their differences in order to make things smooth in the Circus again—both for themselves and for everyone else—learning some important lessons in life along the way. A delightful read that will leave you smiling long after the last page has been turned.
Click the link below to gift a copy of Cross Connection to your little ones and we’re sure it will leave them smiling long after the last page has been turned.
In this episode of the Reading with Your Kids podcast, you’ll hear:
- Jugal sharing the story of the Cross Connection & describing the main characters of his book Chunky, the Funky monkey and Bhole Ram, a shy and gentle elephant
- where did Jugal get the idea to write this story
- Jugal shares his incredible journey from working as a Bollywood film actor, writing and directing a 3D Indian-American computer animated movie Roadside Romeo to becoming a children’s book author
- Some of the positive messages his book promotes, importance of children’s literature & much more…Be sure to tune in & you’ll be so glad you did!
A big thank you to Jugal Hansraj for joining us and for sharing his little gem of a book!
So, there you have it. We’re sure you’ve enjoyed learning about Jugal Hansraj’s writing journey from him as much as we did! If you’ve enjoyed this episode then please rate and review our show in iTunes and share it by clicking the social media buttons at the bottom of this page!
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Thanks for tuning in and have a wonderful day!
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