He is fondly remembered as the little boy from the 1983 hit Masoom. Jugal Hansraj, who made a mark as a child artiste, tried his luck as a lead actor later during the early 2000s, but destiny had other plans. The last time Jugal was seen in a film was in Kahaaani 2: Durga Rani Singh, where he played the antagonist, and more recently, he featured in the web series Time Out on voot.com. “I act when something interesting comes my way, otherwise, I am happy working in the creative team at Dharma Productions. Time Out was an interesting project as it was a six-episode series, and did not follow the TV format. So, it was fun to work on,” says the actor.
A few years earlier, Jugal also attempted to switch to being completely behind the camera with his 2008 animation film Roadside Romeo and later also directed the Priyanka Chopra-Uday Chopra-starrer Pyar Impossible in 2010. Though the latter film tanked at the box office, Roadside Romeo did win the 56th National Film Award for Best Animated Film. In India, where animated films are still too new to be experimented with, Jugal had boldly taken the plunge to direct this animated romantic musical comedy.
“I have always been passionate about animation and that is why I worked on Roadside Romeo. It was a challenge because an animated film is, three times more challenging to make than a regular film. Budgets are high and production could take at least three years,” he explains. Though channels such as Sony Pix India have been airing films like Coco and Sing, Jugal believes it will still take a while for Indian audiences to accept home-produced animated films. “Here, audiences prefer live action but if you add animation to it, people will certainly watch it. Baahubali was a great example of live action and animation,” he says.
On the small screen though, the 2D animation show Chhota Bheem has managed to get a loyal fan base and other animated Hindi shows on children’s channels have tried to imitate this model. “India has stories that are best suited for animation — not just for children but even for adults. Plus, we also have the best talent in India. But there is hesitation among directors to take the risk. The only wayahead is for more films to get made,” says Jugal who is hoping to make his next animation film on his children's book Cross Connection.
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