There’s no shortage of surprises when it comes to Detective Dotson, the made-in-India adventure by Masala Games. After debuting the co-op gameplay trailer last month, the team has announced that a companion movie tie-in to Detective Dotson will premiere at AniMela, India’s First International Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics & XR Festival.
The aptly titled Detective Dotson: The Movie will be screened on March 8 in Mumbai, marking the first time a movie based on a video game will premiere at a major film festival in India. Detective Dotson: The Movie will be screened in its entirety on March 8, 2025 at 6 pm at P.C. Saxena Lecture Theatre, IDC, IIT Mumbai campus. This will be followed by a Q&A session with Masala Games CEO and co-founder, Shalin Shodhan.
Like the game, the movie has the same stylised 2D-meets-3D rendition of modern-day India. Detective Dotson is the vision of former EA alumni (Spore) and Oscar-winning Pixar artist (Toy Story 3, Brave), Shalin Shodhan. “While Detective Dotson the game is slated for an April 3 launch, Detective Dotson: The Movie will give you a first in-depth look at its world and characters,” says Shalin Shodhan, Founder and CEO of Masala Games. “And there’s no better place than India’s first International Animation, VFX, Gaming, Comics & XR Festival. This is our labour of love. We’re thankful that AniMela has partnered with us to bring the adventures of Dotson and friends to you.” “
AniMela provides a platform for Indian talent from the AVGC-XR industry to exhibit their work to a large international audience and Detective Dotson: The Movie is a perfect fit,” says Anne Doshi, Artistic Director, AniMela. “Detective Dotson: The Movie is the first time a video game to movie adaptation caught our eye. Hopefully we see more such passion projects from the Indian games industry.” Detective Dotson: The Movie features talent from Indian Ocean, Tarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma, EA, and more
In Detective Dotson, our titular hero stumbles into a corporate empire’s deadly plan to manipulate the masses. Stalked by a mysterious assassin, he rallies his mismatched crew of friends to end the conspiracy during a high-stakes cricket match. He ends up uncovering a shocking family secret and finds out who he really is.
The second edition of the AniMela Festival is organised in partnership with IDC, IIT Bombay and the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France. Tickets for AniMela 2025 are now available, exclusively on Skillbox.
Check out our preview of Detective Dotson here and you can even download its demo here.
Stay up to date on all Detective Dotson news on Discord, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter).