Interview | Adi Shankar on Devil May Cry season 2, animation born from frustration, and Dhurandhar
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Picture of Adi Shankar Photograph: (X)
Adi Shankar is a creative force. Born in Kolkata, the Indian-origin filmmaker is behind the Netflix hit Devil May Cry. In an exclusive interview with WION, he talks about his passion for animation, which he said was born out of frustration over a gap in the market. Read the interview below.
In the world of animation, for Adi Shankar, there is no ceiling. In a candid conversation with WION, the creator of Devil May Cry opens up about his vision, his creative process, and the future of animation.
Saying that his creative approach is “completely intuitive,” Shankar makes it clear that his work is driven less by formulas and more by instinct. With roots in culturally rich India, he has lived a nomadic life across the world. While living in different countries, he discovered that his heart lies in animation. He is a hardcore fan of Japanese animation, and inspired by it, he wants to take the American animation to the next level.
Speaking about his version of Dante in the Netflix hit show, the director gave the example of Christopher Nolan’s version of Batman. While talking about the upcoming season 2 of the Netflix hit show, he also revealed how much he loved Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar and how his passion for animation grew.
Read the edited excerpts here:
WION: Season 2 of Devil May Cry is coming up. What is the one thing you are most excited for audiences to see?
Adi Shankar: ''It’s hard to pick just one thing. Today, I would say the music. The music for season 2 is on another level, it’s 10x, 100x, even 1000x. The music from season one.''
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WION: Dante is one of most iconic characters of gaming world. As a creator, do you prioritize staying faithful to the source material or bringing your own interpretation?
Adi Shankar: My process is completely intuitive. I kind of look at it as almost like the Christopher Nolan approach for Batman. Where it's still Batman, but it's very much through my lens, my interpretation of it. I don't think there's really another way to properly do it justice. It's not a direct adaptation. It's a reimagining through my own filter.
WION: Where does your passion for animation come from?
Adi Shankar: I was born in Calcutta (Kolkata). But then we moved to Chennai, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Rhode Island, Chicago. So the point is when you move as much as I did during your formative years, you stop accepting the world as, like, fixed, right? You start seeing how things could be instead of how it is. And then you start realizing, okay, cool. Every culture is different, but every place has its own rhythm, its own bias. And when I was living in Hong Kong specifically, there would always be adult cartoons on TV at night. Anime from Japan. And I would watch it. And it was never in English. So most of the time I had no idea what was being said. But I was like, this is amazing. Why didn't we have this in India? Like, why did we not have this where I just came from? This is weird. And then when I started spending time in the U.S., I was, like, I loved American cartoons, right? X-Men, the animated series. Batman, the animated series. Later on, Batman Beyond. Even like Wildcats and Ultra Force. There was a great Godzilla cartoon. There was even a weird awesome Men in Black cartoon. The list goes on, but these were all for kids. And then I was, like, where is this thing for adults? Like, I don't understand why it just disappears. So, sure, there's a passion, but it was also kind of born out of frustration for a hole in the market.
WION: Do you watch Indian films? Any recent favorites?
Adi Shankar: I just watched Dhurandhar, the sense of geography that the action scenes had was like expert level. I thought the story was just gripping and compelling. I was warned in advance. I was told, 'hey, this movie's really long. Be prepared'. It just flew by It didn't feel like four and a half hours at all. It just it went by. So it was wonderful experience.''
WION: Artificial Intelligence is becoming a major talking point in filmmaking and animation. Do you use AI?
Adi Shankar: Well, they're not in a place where I can use them. They work well on a consumer grade level. So for instance, if I want to make a fight scene between Spider-Man and Batman. I can go into a tool or someone can go into a tool and quickly generate that and throw it on. Twitter or YouTube and be like, look, there's a fight scene between Spider-Man and Batman. But I'm not making that kind of stuff. What I'm making is. The high end. Cinematic experience. For the world's. Largest, most successful streaming platform. So like. I can't just. Go in and be like AI. Give me a fight scene between Dante and Virgil. Guess what? I have a new episode. No, like they're not.That's not happening.''
