Inside Bakarmax 2025

Anjali's journey through animations, workations & police stations!

Hello kuttykale!

I’m Anjali - Assistant Animator, resident Malayali, 100% literacy rate represent, and (allegedly) the only sane person at Bakarmax.

Since I’ve been graciously entrusted with this month’s Substack, I have also graciously decided to introduce myself with these extremely accurate titles. I was the last diversity hire for this North Indian ass company (just kidding… but am I?). And now somehow it’s been a year and a half here.

What a rollercoaster. What a fever dream. What a year.

And since 2026 is practically knocking at the door with chappals, let’s go through the highlights of our beautiful 2025.

Our most recent highlight is the annual workation that took 2 years to happen. Do you know what it takes for a fully remote team to meet in person? Apparently, two years of planning, three Dubai to India round trips by me, twenty seven cancelled plans, and finally the collective decision of “HECK IT, let’s just go to Sumit’s house.”

So we did. Here we are - this crazy, mast, weirdo gang (left to right): Me, Shubbu, Summu, and Vivu. Four idiots who got to co-work at IIM, Bangalore.

Because having been incubated at NCRSEL for a year had its perks of aweing at a giant masterpiece of a campus, and having truly elite cold coffee. Life changing stuff.

Then of course, we had our ritual Bollywood party, something sumit is far more excited about than all of us combined! And trust me, nothing can prepare you for seeing your coworkers behave like wanna-be Bollywood stars and dance.

Then came Indie Comix Fest, where Bakarmax stepped into the massive shoes of the wonderful Bharath Murthy and Aniceto Pereira , who usually run the infamous event. We took over this year at Bangalore for them and it was FUN MAX.

But a tiny detail: the night before ICF, Shubh and I ended up at the Cubbon Park Police Station. Not for our cute looks (though obviously that played a role). We were stuck there late at night trying to get permissions for ICF… while our wonderful bosses were spending quality time with their quality wives and living stable adult lives. Just saying, I am adding “interacted professionally with Bangalore Police” to my CV.

On the work front, we’ve been doing a bunch of *clears throat dramatically*… awesome work!

Our biggest, most loving, most loyal client is Gates Foundation India and the films we get to make for them. This year alone we finished 15 films for them back to back, and it has been beautiful, to say the least. We also had our very fun ride with CEAT (yes, the tyre guys), finally had the time to submit all our amazing ad work to festivals, and even WON some. Woohoo, validation!

Now to my favourite part of the year, Bakarmax Originals. Our babies. Our soul.

We’ve been working on our super top secret project with a big TV network (hehehe) and I GET TO BE A PART OF IT. I will never recover.

A huge chunk of 2025 was just development and pre-production for this show. My poor animation dad Vivu, and the killer writing squad - Sumit, Aditi, Adhiraj, and Shubh have absolutely broken their backs working on it. But look at us now! We have a genuinely exciting IP, moving in a genuinely exciting direction, with a genuinely exciting network!

This project also opened doors to meet some amazing production studios around India, and explore collaborating. Indian animation is a beautiful ecosystem when we all join hands (and cry together).

And finally, Aaapki Poojita fans, rejoice, WE ARE BACK BABY!

When I joined Bakarmax, we were finishing Episode 1 - Poojita Ki Bhookh, a game changer for us.

And now… production on Episode 2 is kicking off, and I personally finally get to see the madness from start to finish for the first time. So the team is gearing up, and we’re ready to go again.

All this original content work brought a lot of new eyes to our studio. There’s excitement, curiosity, and real respect for the kind of stories we want to tell. But between you and me, Sumit did not need any of this external validation to remind us we must forever remain loyal to fun, weird, deeply Bakarmax content.

He is the flame. The engine. The man who pulls us into 1 hour “meetings” about his 100 ideas, his philosophy, his belief in original art.etc. Our interns survive through sheer spiritual strength.

But honestly? It’s the reason we keep choosing the road less taken. And the road less funded. And I’ve come to understand, it’s exactly why this place works.

I’m so early in my animation career. Anywhere else, I’d still be a cog in a massive factory churned pipeline. Here? I’ve gotten to dip my toes into writing, storyboarding, animating, post-production, and even running production. Every idea gets heard and every weird thought gets a chance. And that’s the magic.

Man, I love this company and this team… I’m never leaving… *add creepy music*.

So that’s about it folks! We close on December 24th, then it’s CHUTTI FOR MEEEE. See you in 2026 for more madness.

Bakarmax forever, kuttykale!

Onwards to another Bakartastic year!