Best 2D Animation Studios in India (2026)

This list comes from Monal Digital, a kids' animation company from the Himalayan foothills, and one of the studios on it.

Most lists of animation studios in India mix 2D, 3D, VFX and game art into one ranking. This one does not. Every studio below has shipped real 2D work, whether a broadcast series, a feature film or a decade of regional-language shows, and every fact was checked against the studio's own website or a primary source in October 2026.

What counts as 2D animation?#

2D animation builds a shot in flat space. Characters are drawn or assembled from rigged parts in software such as Toon Boom Harmony or Adobe Animate, then moved frame by frame or by keyframes. It is still the dominant format for TV series, YouTube shorts, explainer films and advertising, because it is quicker to produce than 3D and carries a style of its own.

3D animation, by contrast, models characters and sets as digital objects, rigs them like puppets and renders the result. Most large Indian studios now run both pipelines. The studios below are ranked by the strength of their 2D work in particular, not by size.

The best 2D animation studios in India at a glance#

The best 2D animation studios in India#

1. Toonz Media Group#

Studio history. Founded in 1999 in an 18,000 sq ft facility at Technopark, Trivandrum. Today the group runs 11 global offices and 10 group companies, including Telegael in Ireland and IMIRA in Spain, with a team of 1,000 and above.

2D credentials. Roughly 10,000 minutes of 2D and 3D animation a year, plus live action and stop motion. Toonz Animation Academy, founded in 2002, trains artists straight into the pipeline.

Best for. Broadcast-scale series, co-productions and distribution across six continents.

2. Green Gold Animation#

Studio history. Operating since 2004 and grown from a single studio into a group spanning broadcast, streaming and consumer products. Hyderabad-based, founded by Rajiv Chilaka.

2D credentials. Chhota Bheem, one of the longest-running Indian kids' franchises, began as a 2D series and the catalogue still runs in both 2D and 3D: Mighty Raju, Super Bheem, Arjun Prince of Bali, Chorr Police, Luv Kushh and Krishna The Great.

Best for. Original Indian IP built for many seasons and a licensing business behind it.

3. Cosmos-Maya#

Studio history. A Mumbai-based studio and one of the most established names in Indian kids' television. The company puts its catalogue at 24 shows and 58 movies, with testimonials from Viacom18, Sony YAY! and Disney Star.

2D credentials. Series production at broadcast scale for competing networks at once, which is only possible with a 2D pipeline structured around each channel's delivery format.

Best for. Long-running 2D series for Indian broadcasters.

4. Paperboat Design Studios#

Studio history. Founded in 2011 by Soumitra Ranade, Aashish Mall and Mayank Patel. Its hand-painted 2D feature Bombay Rose opened Venice Critics' Week in 2019. Singapore's Vistas Media Capital took a majority stake in 2021, and the studio reports more than 250 full-time staff across Mumbai and Hyderabad.

2D credentials. Feature film, TV series, advertising and audio-visual work, with VFX and CGI run through its Mumbai subsidiary, Occult Studios. Clients named in press include Disney India, Discovery Kids and Cadbury.

Best for. Painterly, festival-grade 2D and design-led commercials.

5. Studio Eeksaurus#

Studio history. Founded in 2009 in Mumbai by Suresh and Nilima Eriyat, after Suresh's decade at Famous House of Animation. The studio describes itself as the most awarded animation studio in India and the only one to have won the Annecy Cristal.

2D credentials. Eleven original short films across 2D, 3D, stop motion and live action, alongside commercials for brands.

Best for. Short-form 2D with a director's voice, and advertising that needs to look like nothing else.

6. Vaibhav Studios#

Studio history. A director-led, boutique Indian studio built on original creative voice rather than volume.

2D credentials. Lamput, the largely wordless 2D comedy created by the studio for Cartoon Network, earned an International Emmy nomination. The studio says it is the only Indian animation studio to have been nominated.

Best for. Design-forward 2D comedy that travels across language markets without dubbing.

7. Ssoftoons#

Studio history. Founded in 2001 in a small room in Howrah by Sourav Mondal and Hansa Dangaich Mondal, with offices now in Kolkata, Howrah and Mumbai.

2D credentials. In the studio's own words, its "core strength lies in animation and background in 2D." The catalogue includes Gopal Bhar, Lullu, Batul the Great, Nonte Fonte and Thakumar Jhuli, plus storyboards and animatics for the international series SheZow and Buzz Bumble. It runs nine YouTube channels in Bengali and Hindi.

Best for. Regional-language 2D series and a proven YouTube catalogue.

8. Graphiti Multimedia#

Studio history. Established in Mumbai in 1995 by Ram Mohan, widely called the father of Indian animation, who later founded the Graphiti School of Animation in 2006. He died in 2019 at 88.

2D credentials. 2D and 3D animation, visual effects and original content for television, feature films and digital platforms, with a school feeding the studio.

Best for. Classical 2D craft and a lineage that goes back to the start of the industry.

9. Digitoonz#

Studio history. A 2D and 3D animation production studio with a footprint spanning the USA, UK, Australia, Japan and India, and a workforce the company puts at 500+.

2D credentials. A "one-stop workshop" covering concept design through compositing and editing, across 2D animation, 3D animation, CGI and interactive entertainment.

Best for. International clients who want one accountable partner for a 2D series.

10. Monal Digital#

Studio history. Our own studio: a kids' animation company from the Himalayan foothills, incorporated in 2020. Monal Kids is its own show; Zappy Toons, Wands And Wings and others are channels it produces for clients.

2D credentials. Our flagship series are 3D, and we say so. 2D traditional animation is one of our production services, used for shorts, songs and partner work where the style calls for it.

Best for. Kids' content that has to grow an audience, not just get delivered. Across our channels the figures sit at 80M+ subscribers and 50B+ views. Monal Digital is a full-service 2D and 3D animation studio in India, producing series and YouTube content from Haldwani.

2D or 3D for a kids' show?#

• Choose 2D when the style is the point, the budget is tight, or the schedule is short. A 2D episode moves through the pipeline faster, and stylised characters age better than mid-budget 3D.
• Choose 3D when the show lives on YouTube, where 3D nursery rhymes dominate the view charts, or when the characters need to carry across games and merchandise.
• Choose both when you have a 2D series and want a 3D short to test a new audience, or the reverse. Most studios above can do either.

How to choose a 2D animation studio in India#

1. Watch a full episode, not a showreel. A reel is the best 40 seconds from five years. An episode shows timing, lip sync and how the backgrounds hold up at minute six.
2. Ask who owns the IP. Service studios deliver and hand over. IP studios may want a stake. Both are fine; know which you are buying.
3. Ask for the schedule, stage by stage. A studio that cannot tell you how long the animatic takes has not run the pipeline recently. Our own stage-by-stage breakdown shows what the numbers should look like.
4. Check the language. Several studios on this list work in Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil as a first language, not a dub.

FAQ#

Which are the best 2D animation studios in India?#

Toonz Media Group, Green Gold Animation, Cosmos-Maya, Paperboat Design Studios, Studio Eeksaurus, Vaibhav Studios, Ssoftoons, Graphiti Multimedia, Digitoonz and Monal Digital. The first nine were verified against their own websites or press coverage in October 2026; the tenth is us.

Which Indian studio made Chhota Bheem?#

Green Gold Animation, Hyderabad, which has operated since 2004.

Which Indian 2D film premiered at Venice?#

Bombay Rose, by Paperboat Design Studios, opened Venice Critics' Week in 2019.

How much does 2D animation cost in India?#

It depends on style, length and how much the studio has to build from scratch. The honest answer is a quote against a script and a style frame. Most studios here will give one after a single call.

Does Monal Digital do 2D animation?#

Yes, as a production service. The series Monal produces are 3D, which is why we sit last on a 2D list rather than first.

Conclusion#

India's 2D strength sits in two places: the big broadcast houses that can deliver a season on schedule, and the boutique studios whose films win at festivals. Pick by what you need made. And if what you need is a children's show that grows an audience, talk to us.