Canvas, an Indian microdrama and vertical entertainment app built for global audiences, will launch Project Maya, an original short-form anime series, in the first week of October. The Hindi series was created over 12 months by a team of 30 Indian animators and creators from across the country.
The series contrasts what independence meant to Indians nearly a century ago with what it means to a younger generation today. Using Indian characters, landscapes and cultural references, it explores how the meaning of freedom has changed across generations.
The series will first be released in Hindi on the Canvas app. It will later be dubbed into English and regional Indian languages, as Canvas aims to reach a wider domestic and international audience.
The show has been created by Otaku Bharat, an Indian short-form anime studio that brings together animators and artists to develop original anime stories rooted in India. Designed for mobile viewing, the series will be released in short episodes, combining anime’s visual style and emotional storytelling with a narrative grounded in India.
Voice actor Sanket Mhatre, known for lending his voice to Ben 10 and several other popular animated characters, has lent his voice to the series. Rob Pereyda, former Head of Anime at Netflix, is associated with the project as executive producer.
Abhinav Singla – Co-founder and CEO of Canvas, said, “India has one of the most passionate anime audiences in the world, but the stories watched here are still largely created outside the country. This series has been developed by Indian animators, voiced by Indian artists and built around a question that is deeply relevant to us. What did independence mean to people a century ago, and what does it mean to a young Indian today?”
The launch comes as anime moves beyond a niche fan community in India and becomes a more visible part of youth culture. While international anime titles have large audiences in the country, original Indian anime is still at an early stage. The new series aims to show that Indian creators can build anime that is rooted in India while remaining accessible to global audiences.
It also reflects Canvas’s effort to take microdramas beyond relationship and family-conflict stories. The platform is developing short-form shows across animation, comedy, documentary, food, travel and lifestyle to bring more variety to mobile-first entertainment.
Abhinav Singla – Co-founder and CEO of Canvas, said, “Thirty animators and creators worked on this series for nearly a year. That investment of time matters because we did not want to simply place Indian names and locations inside a familiar format. The ambition was to develop a visual world and story that feel Indian at their core. The planned regional-language and English versions will help us take that story to audiences beyond its original Hindi release.”
