Munjal Shroff
Co-founder, director and COO of Mumbai animation studio Graphiti Multimedia; co-creator of "Krish, Trish and Baltiboy" and creator of Netflix's "Deepa & Anoop", which won four Kidscreen Awards in 2023; chairman of FICCI's AVGC-XR Forum in 2025.
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- Country
- India
- Known for
- Co-creator and co-director (with Tilak Raj Shetty) of "Krish, Trish and Baltiboy"; creator of Netflix's "Deepa & Anoop"; chairman of FICCI's AVGC-XR Forum (2025)
- Role
- Co-founder, Director & COO of Graphiti Multimedia, Mumbai
- Background
- Computer engineer with a specialisation in image processing
- Career span
- Nearly 30 years across live-action, animation, gaming, VFX and immersive entertainment, per his official IFFI biography
- Deepa & Anoop
- Four Kidscreen Awards (2023) — Best New Series, Best Inclusivity, Best Music, Best Voice Talent
- Bharat Hain Hum
- 52-part series co-produced with the Central Bureau of Communication; Season 1 premiered 15 October 2023 on Doordarshan, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in 12 Indian and 7 international languages
Munjal Shroff is the co-founder, director and chief operating officer of Graphiti Multimedia, the Mumbai animation studio behind the folk-art film series Krish, Trish and Baltiboy, which he co-created and co-directed with Tilak Raj Shetty (AnimationXpress). A computer engineer who moved into animation and now approaches 30 years in the industry, he also created Netflix’s Deepa & Anoop — which won four Kidscreen Awards in 2023 — and in 2025 became chairman of FICCI’s AVGC-XR Forum (AnimationXpress).
His official IFFI biography credits his work across TV commercials, short films, animated features, interactive apps and audiovisual user experiences (IFFI).
From advertising films to original IP
Shroff is a computer engineer with a specialisation in image processing (AnimationXpress). Business Today reported that he and Tilak Shetty had both started out under Ram Mohan, the pioneer of Indian animation, and that — after Graphiti’s 1997 advertising-industry start and its 2001 move into long-format work — the pair decided in 2002 to build original intellectual property while India’s industry was still mostly an outsourcing hub (Business Today; AnimationXpress).
Television gave the first validation: Graphiti’s CG character “Genie” for Star Plus’s Khulja Sim Sim grew from a 30-second bit to three minutes per episode on fan mail; a Jadoo TV series (with Rakesh Roshan’s permission) followed, and in 2005 Shroff met 7UP-icon creator Joanna Ferrone at a trade show and won the studio’s first foreign co-production, The World of OO (AnimationXpress; Business Today).
He made the IP case in public early: at FICCI Frames 2006 he said global-market content needed “country neutral” characters; in 2009 he told a Frames panel that India lacked a working producer–broadcaster–creator ecosystem, and that studios had to learn “how to sell it and build a business around it” (exchange4media; Bollywood Hungama).
Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: folk art as a mission
Shroff and Shetty’s signature creation is KTB (KTB), the animated film series that tells Indian folk tales through regional folk-art styles. In 2012 the second film was nominated in children’s animation at the 21st Cairo International Film Festival for Children, held 23–30 March (AnimationXpress). Shroff said KTB was an attempt to “resurrect and nurture” dying folk art forms, arguing children had grown alienated from India’s visual culture; he framed it as an experiment against the “Walmartisation” of kids’ content, citing its Cartoon Network success as proof (AnimationXpress). Shetty said the pair hoped to win, but were most excited to see foreign children respond to Indian stories (AnimationXpress). The KTB characters later carried the studio’s largest production, Bharat Hain Hum (AnimationXpress).
Bharat Hain Hum: a government co-production at national scale
On 11 October 2023, Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched the trailer of KTB – Bharat Hain Hum, co-produced by Graphiti Studios and the Central Bureau of Communication of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. PTI credited the series as “created by Munjal Shroff and Tilak Shetty”; Season 1 — 26 episodes of 11 minutes dramatising the freedom struggle — premiered on 15 October 2023 simultaneously on Doordarshan, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in 12 Indian and 7 international languages (Daily Excelsior).
Shroff told Pickle Media the production built 700+ characters and 3,000+ backgrounds, and the streamers launched it in 150+ countries, where it ranked in Netflix’s top 10 in its first week (Pickle Media). AnimationXpress reported the makers employed nearly 1,000 professionals across India — implying a government-backed Indian animated IP can be produced at a genuinely national industrial scale (AnimationXpress). Season 2 launched at the International Film Festival of India in Goa in November 2024 with Nagarjuna Akkineni, adding an All India Radio radio series and a Spotify podcast in 180 countries (AnimationXpress; The Tribune); the next month Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the show in his Mann Ki Baat address (IFFI).
Deepa & Anoop and the global studio
Shroff’s other international credit is Deepa & Anoop, Mattel Television’s first animated series, created by Shroff with writer Lisa Goldman and producer Heather Kenyon for Netflix (AnimationXpress). At the 14th Annual Kidscreen Awards in 2023 it won four trophies — Best New Series and Best Inclusivity in preschool programming, plus Best Music and Best Voice Talent — and Shroff announced the wins from Miami, thanking the Mattel, Netflix and Graphiti teams (AnimationXpress). Its second season was nominated for Best Show at Kidscreen 2024 (Pickle Media).
The wins cap a two-decade run of international partnerships — Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery, SABC, Mattel and Netflix — and Shroff has argued that treating Indian studios as mere service partners wastes those relationships’ potential (Pickle Media). Other IPs built under his leadership include Yom, the preschool toy concept Toyzania (Emmy-winning writer Jeffrey Scott as executive producer), and Action Hero B.C., drawn from the Katha Sarit Sagar (AnimationXpress; AnimationXpress).
Industry leadership: FICCI and the AVGC agenda
In 2025 Shroff was appointed chairman of FICCI’s AVGC-XR Forum — the federation’s animation, VFX, gaming, comics and extended-reality body — succeeding Ashish Kulkarni, after an earlier co-chair stint (AnimationXpress). His official IFFI biography says he helped craft the National AVGC-XR policy and set up the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies, and serves on the Media & Entertainment Skills Council’s governing council (IFFI).
At MIPCOM 2024 he argued the moment for Indian IP had arrived: India had a co-production fund covering up to 30% of a show’s budget, and Indian studios had a proven record delivering animation for “some of the best shows that we see around the world” (Pickle Media).
Selected works and milestones
| Year | Work | Role and outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | “Genie” for Khulja Sim Sim (Star Plus) | CG character grew from 30 seconds to 3 minutes per episode on fan mail — an early Indian TV animation breakthrough (AnimationXpress) |
| 2005 | The World of OO | Graphiti’s first foreign co-production, with 7UP-icon creator Joanna Ferrone (Business Today) |
| 2012 | Krish, Trish and Baltiboy 2 | Co-creator and co-director; children’s-animation nomination at the 21st Cairo festival (AnimationXpress) |
| 2023 | Deepa & Anoop (Netflix / Mattel) | Creator (with Lisa Goldman, Heather Kenyon); four Kidscreen Awards (AnimationXpress) |
| 2023–24 | Bharat Hain Hum | Co-creator; CBC co-production; 700+ characters, 3,000+ backgrounds, 150+ countries, ~1,000 professionals (Pickle Media; AnimationXpress) |
| 2025 | FICCI AVGC-XR Forum | Chairman for 2025, succeeding Ashish Kulkarni (AnimationXpress) |
Frequently asked questions
Who is Munjal Shroff? He is the co-founder, director and chief operating officer of Graphiti Multimedia, a Mumbai animation studio. He co-created and co-directed Krish, Trish and Baltiboy with Tilak Raj Shetty, created Netflix’s Deepa & Anoop, and in 2025 became chairman of FICCI’s AVGC-XR Forum. His industry career spans nearly 30 years.
What is Munjal Shroff best known for? The folk-art film series Krish, Trish and Baltiboy — including its government co-produced spin-off Bharat Hain Hum on India’s freedom fighters — and the Netflix original Deepa & Anoop, which won four Kidscreen Awards in 2023: Best New Series, Best Inclusivity, Best Music and Best Voice Talent.
What did Munjal Shroff study? He is a computer engineer with a specialisation in image processing, according to AnimationXpress’s industry profile of him. That engineering background shaped his producer’s perspective on filmmaking, including directing and producing TV commercials, short films and animated features.
What is Shroff’s role at FICCI? He was appointed chairman of FICCI’s AVGC-XR Forum (animation, VFX, gaming, comics and extended reality) for 2025, succeeding Ashish Kulkarni, after serving as co-chair. His official IFFI biography credits him with helping craft the National AVGC-XR policy and setting up the Indian Institute of Creative Technologies.
How did Shroff get into animation? He trained as a computer engineer and began his animation career under Ram Mohan, the pioneer of Indian animation, alongside Tilak Shetty. The two built Graphiti from advertising films into an original-IP studio, starting with TV work like the Khulja Sim Sim “Genie” character before creating their own franchises.
What this profile does not claim
- It does not give a birth date or birthplace; none was verified from a source read in full.
- The 1997 founding and 2002 IP pivot are not treated as contradictory: 1997 is the studio’s advertising-industry origin, 2002 the start of its original-IP venture.
- Aggregator-only career claims (a 1995 founding, a pre-animation software career, a Shortcut Safari credit, a Turner co-production) were not independently verified and are not published here.
- It does not publish personal or family details from Indian Television’s 2006 exec-life interview; this profile covers his public professional record only.
- It does not assert the “Toon Titan of Asia” honour, which appeared only in a Scribd-hosted document of uncertain provenance.
- The “world’s first simultaneous global release” framing for Bharat Hain Hum is reported as stated in his official IFFI jury biography, not independently verified.
- The blocked PIB press release (HTTP 403, not retried or bypassed) was not relied on; the October 2023 launch facts rest on the PTI report, AnimationXpress and The Tribune.
- It does not assert that his 2025 FICCI chairmanship continued beyond that year; the appointment was announced “for 2025”.
Timeline
- 1997
- Graphiti Multimedia begins as an advertising-industry animation studio (AnimationXpress); it expands into long-format work in 2001 and launches its original-IP venture in 2002 (BusinessToday).
- 2001
- Graphiti creates "Genie", a CG character for Star Plus's Khulja Sim Sim; fan mail grows its airtime from 30 seconds to 3 minutes per episode. Shroff is quoted as the studio's Director & CTO.
- 2005
- Meets Joanna Ferrone, creator of the 7UP icon Fido, at a trade show and wins Graphiti's first foreign co-production deal, The World of OO.
- 2006
- Speaks on IP development at FICCI Frames, arguing that original content for the global market needs "country neutral" characters.
- 2012
- "Krish, Trish and Baltiboy 2" is nominated in children's animation at the 21st Cairo International Film Festival for Children (23–30 March); Shroff and co-director Tilak Shetty are quoted.
- 2023
- Deepa & Anoop wins four awards at the 14th Annual Kidscreen Awards — Best New Series, Best Inclusivity, Best Music and Best Voice Talent.
- 2023-10-11
- Union Minister Anurag Thakur launches the trailer of "KTB – Bharat Hain Hum", co-produced with the Central Bureau of Communication; PTI credits the series as "created by Munjal Shroff and Tilak Shetty".
- 2024-11-23
- Season 2 of "Bharat Hain Hum" is launched at IFFI Goa with actor Nagarjuna; a radio series and a podcast version are added.
- 2025
- Appointed chairman of FICCI's AVGC-XR Forum for 2025, succeeding Ashish Kulkarni, after an earlier stint as co-chair.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The PIB press release on the October 2023 'Bharat Hain Hum' trailer launch (PRID 1966550) returned HTTP 403 when fetched; the launch facts here rest on PTI/Daily Excelsior, AnimationXpress and the Tribune instead. PIB republications on minor news sites were read but not relied on as independent sources.
- Founding-year framing differs across sources: AnimationXpress dates Graphiti's start to 1997 as an advertising-industry studio, while BusinessToday treats 2002 as the start of its original-IP venture. The profile reconciles these (company origin vs IP pivot); corporate-registry figures from directory sites were not used.
- The 2009 release year of the first 'Krish, Trish and Baltiboy' film comes from a single tier3 industry case study (AnimationVibes) and is not asserted here; the profile anchors the film series to the fully-verified 2012 Cairo nomination.
- The 'Toon Titan of Asia' honour attributed to Animation Magazine appeared only in a Scribd-hosted document of uncertain provenance and is not asserted.
- Aggregator-only career claims (a 1995 founding year, a software-engineering career before animation, a 'Lala Lajpat Rai computer academy', a family production house, a 'Shortcut Safari' credit, a Turner co-production on Katha Sarit Sagar) appeared on nettv4u and were not independently verified; none are published here.
- Personal and family details from Indian Television's 2006 exec-life interview (wife, children) were deliberately not published; this profile covers his public professional record only.
- The 'first show in the world to release simultaneously on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and 28 Doordarshan channels' framing comes from his official IFFI jury biography and is reported here as that bio's claim, not independently verified as a world first.
- His FICCI AVGC-XR Forum chairmanship was announced 'for 2025'; no source verified whether it continued beyond that year.
Sources
14 sources (4 tier 1, 9 tier 2, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from thirteen sources read in full: four tier1 (IFFI's official site, Business Today, PTI via Daily Excelsior, The Tribune), eight tier2 (AnimationXpress x4, Pickle Media, exchange4media, Bollywood Hungama, Indian Television) and one first-party (Graphiti's own site, supporting only). The PIB press release on the October 2023 launch returned HTTP 403 on fetch and was not retried or bypassed; its facts are carried here by the PTI report and AnimationXpress instead. Database-style biography and contact sites (nettv4u, The Company Check, RocketReach) and a Scribd-hosted document of uncertain provenance were excluded entirely and none of their claims appear below.
- Supports: Shroff and Tilak Shetty starting out under Ram Mohan; the 2002 original-IP pivot; the Jadoo TV series with Rakesh Roshan's permission; the Joanna Ferrone / World of OO co-production deal; Shroff as COO; five IPs owned (2010); advertising business and animation school Open original source
- Supports: Anurag Thakur's 11 October 2023 trailer launch; series 'created by Munjal Shroff and Tilak Shetty'; 26 eleven-minute episodes in Season 1; 15 October premiere on Prime Video, Netflix and Doordarshan in 12 Indian and 7 international languages Open original source
- Second season of animated series Krish, Trish, and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum launched at IFFI Tier 1Supports: S2 launch at IFFI Goa; Nagarjuna's participation and quote; language list; Waves OTT platform; featured freedom fighters (Wazir Ram Singh Pathania, Birsa Munda) Open original source
- Supports: 30 years across live-action, animation, gaming, VFX; partnerships (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon); Deepa & Anoop's four Kidscreen wins; Bharat Hain Hum as a 52-part CBC/MIB co-production with the simultaneous multi-platform global release; PM Modi's Mann Ki Baat mention; FICCI AVGC-XR chairmanship, National AVGC-XR policy work and MESC governing council Open original source
- Supports: S2 launch at IFFI Goa; Shroff named as founder and creator of the show; S1's October 2023 multi-platform debut; nearly 1,000 professionals employed; 12 Indian + 7 international languages in 150 countries; radio series and Spotify podcast; quoted creator statement Open original source
- Krish, Trish and Balti Boy 2 nominated at 21st Cairo International Film Festival for Children Tier 2Supports: KTB2's 2012 Cairo nomination; Shroff's quotes on folk art and the 'Walmartisation' of kids' content; Tilak Shetty's co-director quote; Graphiti as Mumbai-based Open original source
- Supports: 2025 chairman appointment succeeding Ashish Kulkarni; earlier co-chair role; co-founder/director & COO titles; computer-engineering background; shows created under his leadership (Yom, KTB, Deepa and Anoop, KTB Bharat Hai Hum) Open original source
- Supports: 1997 advertising origin and 2001 long-format expansion; Khulja Sim Sim 'Genie' and Cartoon Network's The Next Big Toon; Shroff as Director & CTO; Toyzania and Action Hero B.C. IPs (Katha Sarit Sagar) Open original source
- Indian creator Munjal Shroff's 'Deepa & Anoop' bags four wins at the 14th Annual Kidscreen Awards Tier 2Supports: Shroff as creator (with Lisa Goldman and Heather Kenyon); the four Kidscreen wins and their categories; Mattel Television for Netflix; Graphiti Multimedia's production role Open original source
- Supports: Nearly 30 years in animation; international partners (Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, Discovery, Mattel, Netflix); Bharat Hain Hum production scale (700+ characters, 3,000+ backgrounds, 19 languages, 150+ countries, top-10 Netflix first week); India's 30% co-production fund; Deepa & Anoop Season 2 Kidscreen 2024 nomination Open original source
- Supports: Shroff's FICCI Frames 2006 panel appearance on IP; 'country neutral' character argument; IP revenue streams (broadcasters, syndication, home video, licensing, merchandising) Open original source
- Supports: FICCI Frames 2009 quotes: India's missing animation ecosystem, and studios needing to know how to sell content and build a business around it Open original source
- Supports: Director and COO title confirmation only; personal-life material from this exec-life interview was deliberately not used (living-person care) Open original source
- About Us — Graphiti Multimedia First-partySupports: Supporting only: co-founder title; Director & COO; image-processing background; FICCI AVGC co-chair role; evangelist of original Indian content (all corroborated by tier1/tier2 sources above) Open original source
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