With luminous frames dipped in soft pastels, mature cinematography and characters sporting large, emotive eyes and pointed features, Karmachakra: Episode Zero looks every bit Japanese. Except, it's entirely made in India by the Delhi-based Studio Durga. While watching a 20-minute pilot episode that the makers released earlier this year, it might take a few minutes to adjust to the fact that the characteristically Japanese cast converses in flawless Bengali (with English subtitles). But once you're past that, it's a delight to note how the backdrops, characterisation, dialogues and music — all familiarly Indian — blend with the traditional hand-drawn animation artform from Japan.

Director, producer and founder of the studio, Rajorshi Basu, tells us they're ready to wrap up production work by the month-end, and are aiming for a release by the end of 2020.