Edutainment
Indian comics that you should know about
There was a time when comic books were the easiest way of entertainment and publications made sure that they were full of fun and adventures to keep children hooked. However, with digitalisation came a period which was so bad for existence of comic books that more than 50 publications shut down.
There was a time when comic books were the easiest way of entertainment and publications made sure that they were full of fun and adventures to keep children hooked. However, with digitalisation came a period which was so bad for existence of comic books that more than 50 publications shut down.
Once upon a time there lived a generation which enjoyed reading those thin colorful books with illustrated graphics. That was the best thing a child could do during hot summer afternoons. Those books were their friends in long journeys, at home and an ally during study. The companionship was strong. Characters of these books illuminated something within and made sure every child lived the funny side of life, turned adventurous in his own way and forayed into a magical world that these books presented. This was the time when comic books were at their best. They were welcomed by parents and children alike. Not only were they presented as a treat but some brands also held higher opinion over others.
They took the children in the fantasy world of colorful characters which were strong and wanted to save the world and gripped them with their exemplified graphics and exciting story line. It was the time when Indian super heroes were born and were read by children all over; a time that gave wings to every child’s imagination, taking them not only around the planet earth but also to different galaxies.
1990’s was the time when comic books were the easiest way of entertainment and publications made sure that they were full of fun and adventures to keep children hooked. However, with digitalisation came a period which was so bad for existence of comic books that more than 50 publications shut down. Videogames and later computers and mobiles took away the spell the comics had on children. There are few comics which are still published or are worth reading from the archives that will be talked about in this article.
The first name that clicks when comic books are mentioned is that of legendry cartoonist Pran. He made sure that children get all cuddling and fun experiences of life through colorful comic books and with Diamond Comics; he gave birth to an era where comics were treated like prized possessions. They were traded for latest or past issues, collected as souvenirs and cherished forever.
They were the best entertainment a child could get while growing up. Let alone children, even grown-ups sought out the latest editions as soon as they were out. On one hand where there were characters like ‘Billoo’ and ‘Pinki’ who represented young boys and girls, at the same time there were characters like ‘Raman’, ‘Shrimati Jee’ and ‘Channi Chachi’ which represented the adults. The equation and the balance of every character suited the scenario. They fit in perfectly amongst developing India. Whether it was a middle class employee or a modern housewife or a naughty teenager, the comics ensured that nothing was beyond the child’s comprehension.
Today while talking about comics it would be unfair if we leave Pran and his evergreen creations for the last. Let us relive some characters that were cherished by children while growing up during the golden era of comic books.
Chacha Chaudhary:
“Chacha Chaudhary’s brain works faster than a computer.” Every child knew this legendary line by heart. Nobody can forget the elderly man ‘Chacha Chaudhary’ who with his wit was able to solve all the complications that were thrown at him. Such was his fame that later he was personified on television too.
His companion ‘Sabu’ was every child’s dream as it was believed that he was a real resident of Jupiter and the most powerful man on planet earth. The children craved for their character to win over all other villains like ‘Raka’ and ‘Gabbar Singh’.
The not so designer but lovable dog ‘Rocket’, his nagging wife ‘Binni Chachi’ and an old truck Dag-dag which was half machine and half human made sure that all the essence of a middle class family was present. The comic was even personified on small screen by actor Raghuveer Yadav.
The show has made five hundred episodes and used to run on ‘Sahara One’. It is the first Indian cartoon character which was brought on screen. Chacha Chaudhary’s wit and Sabu’s strength could master even the most difficult situations in no time and that’s what made this duo the most loved. There was one such situation which came in front of Sabu when he was playing Cricket and a character ‘Datuk’ who although hated cricket called him for a match. He also added his condition of playing with his own ball.
While Sabu goes back home to collect stumps, a passerby reveals that his ball was made of stone and he just want to break his bat and want to have some fun. Meanwhile when Chacha Chaudhary finds Sabu taking only stumps from home and leaving the ball behind he asks Sabu the reason for doing so. After hearing Datuk wants to play with his ball, Chacha Chaudhary asks him to take a different bat which Sabu does. When Datuk bowls Sabu it was welcomed by a smacking shot and ball break hitting Datuk in return. It was then Chacha Chaudhary was shown speaking, “If he can bowl a stone ball we can also play with a steel bat.” Such incidence made him the master of wit and delivered a clean and refreshing entertainment which adorned every kid’s book shelves.
Billoo:
Billoo was shown as a naughty school going teenager who is mischievous and who gets in trouble due to his pranks. He is a lovable character and along with his pet pup Moti he has few more members like Gabdu, Jozi, and Monu etc. His hairstyle is shown such that the hair covers his forehead and eyes all the time and nobody has seen them so far. A character of a clever teenager who loves to play cricket connected with almost every boy of that generation and thus gained popularity in no time.
To add to the challenge we had Bajarangi a cunning wrestler and his side-kick Dhakkan who are constant trouble creators. Billoo and his gang detest them completely. Initially comic books had shown Billoo as a kid however later his character developed as a teenager, in one of his comics it was shown that Jozi, his childhood friend becomes his girlfriend.
Pinki:
Pinki is shown as a kid and is created by Cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma. She is shown as a five year old kid and is extremely naughty. So much so that entire neighborhood is scared of her mischievous nature. She is always shown with her pet squirrel kut-kut who is equally naughty and completes the duo with similar energy. Constant characters of her comic books were her friends Bhiku and Champu and her neighbor Jhaptji who is shown as the most common victim of Pinki’s mischief.
Every episode where Pinki is shown to help Jhaptji ends up with him being in trouble and lots of laughter. Pinki is otherwise a lovable kid with a pure heart. In one such episode, it was shown that her pet kut-kut chewed away someone’s car’s tyre. The owner angrily tells her that she will have to compensate. Our beloved Pinki cutely asks him if she could give him another tyre in return. When the owner agreed, she ran back home and brings her toy car’s tyre saying innocently that her squirrel also bit only a little of the whole tyre. Her natural quaintness came because of her age. She for all the reason became one of the favored comic characters of the lot.
Raman:
Raman was a middle class office executive who was yet again a milestone creation of Cartoonist Pran. His character was released by the then Prime minister Late Smt. Indira Gandhi. Raman is shown having two friends Moga Singh and Khaleefa – a Sikh and a Muslim. Together they stand representing three main religions that dominate India. The essence of Raman is to make people realize that laughter is important while working hard to gain our achievements. Raman through his comic books lived the situations close to the common man and expressed his comfort/discomfort/opinion through the same.
Shrimati Jee:
Sheila or Shrimati Jee as she was called in the title was a character dedicated to middle class Indian women and was first published in Sarita, which was a women oriented magazine. It soon got a massive female fan following as it mostly covered situations that a normal Indian women would go through, whether it is about price rise or problems with kids or issues with husband or that with kitty parties etc.
Shrimati Jee lived it. She was mostly shown with her husband Kishore. The issues talked in the comic were very common and funny. In one such episode, Kishore was shown taking leave from work and glued in front of the TV to watch some cricket match (a very common household scenario). From the kitchen Shiela aka Shrimati Jee, calls him for breakfast, he requests her to serve him his breakfast there only as he did not want to move away from TV.
She willingly does it. Then after a while she reminds him that he needs to get a haircut. To this, he makes a phone call to the barber and calls him home to get a haircut in front of TV. Irritated, she tells him to take a bath after getting the haircut to which he sighs and wishes for the water to come to him so he needn’t leave his match. Angry as a bull she is shown bringing a water hosepipe in the drawing room and drenching him saying, “Here it is.” Totally hilarious, such situations happen to most women and we all have lived it someday or the other. Many such small instances were covered in the cartoon which made it a regular feature in Manorama, another women magazine.
Apart from Diamond Comics, Raj Comics were another famous name which kept the torch burning even during tough times. Characters crafted by this group were more of action figures and superheroes. Most of them fought criminals and goons to save the earth from destruction. Some comics that were immensely successful were:
Super Commando Dhruv:
Dhruv Mehra or Captain Dhruv as he is called by his Commando Force is a fictional character created by Raj comics. He is shown as a normal boy who grows up and trains himself so well that he possessed many skills like speaking to most birds and animals and an expertise in martial arts. He is a stunt biker and a master of acrobats. He gets it from his parents who were workers in Jupiter Circus which plays in the fictional city of Raj Nagar. His name literally means pole star and just like the celestial body, he is strong and adamant on his decisions.
The best part about Dhruv is that he does not have any alter ego. There is no mask or appearance that he pulls in front of rest of the world. People know who he is and what he is capable of doing. Another thing that makes Dhruv different is that he has no superpowers; however his dedication towards his work has made him a master of all trades. He has learned almost all kinds of martial arts and is master in hand to hand combat.
Also, he is an expert marksman and has a very strong sixth sense. He is also the leader and founder of a fictional government ‘Star Commando Force’ which aims to diminish crime from the world. In one of his adventures Swarn Nagri came in existence. It was shown located under water hidden in a way that it could not be found by human eyes. It was shown occupied by Swarn Manas or the Deva. A Swarn Warrior Dhananjay was introduced who at first fought Dhruv but later he befriend him and gave him the ability to breath underwater for 20 odd minutes. In the same issue, Natasha was introduced who became Dhruv’s love interest. With changing time and in line with the demand of readers, Dhruv was shown in more sci-fi fictions; he was shown fighting and saving the world from bigger threats like Aliens and mad scientists. Even during the dark ages of comics, Super Commando Dhruv was one of few comics which kept on being published and loved by the fans. Irrespective of all the powers and extra abilities, Dhruv was shown as down to earth and a humble person who respects elders and is well mannered. It was also shown that he loves his foster family more than anyone in the world. He has high value for human life and prefers to submit criminals to judiciary rather than killing them.
Nagraj:
Nagraj was yet another blockbuster creation of Ra Comic books which touched the youth and climbed the ladder of favorites. Nagraj as the name says means king of snakes and was evolved from the myth of Ichchadhari Naga that is shape changing snakes. In his debut comic, he was shown being used by wicked Prof. Nagmani who wanted to use it as terror weapon against humans for his benefit.
In his debut comic he was controlled by Prof. Nagmani and was asked to steal a golden statue of a goddess which was secured by her devotees, snakes and a mystic Gorakhnath who was said to be 300 years old. Although Nagraj succeed in stealing the statue initially, he was then defeated by Gorakhnath and his mongoose Shikangi. Gorakhnath reads his mind and comes to the conclusion that he was being puppet by Prof. Nagmani through a mind controlling device which was implanted in his head. After realizing this, Gorakhnath removes the device and sets him free. In return Nagraj becomes his disciple and vows to remove crime from earth. Since then Nagraj has been moving around defeating villains and terrorists. He lives as an alias of Nagraj Shah (Raj) and works as a TV channel employee. He is even shown having a secretary.
Nagraj comics have a perfect mix of fiction, mythology, sci-fi and magic which takes them closer to both adults and children. Mysterious life and myths that rotate around snakes makes it more intriguing raising Nagraj to greater heights of popularity. His superpowers include him being ageless and having superhuman strength which developed and increased as the character evolved. He also had quick healing and is an expert martial artist. His acute sixth sense, skills of a hypnotist and his psychic power made him stand out from others. His other attributes could be connected with other similarities that snakes share like poison bite, venomous breath, skin shedding. Some of his powers were given to him keeping mythology in mind which talked about shape shifting snakes. Most of his power comes from the millions of microscopic shape shifting snakes which live in his blood. Nagraj just like Super Commando Dhruv has survived the worst times for comic books and has been loved throughout.
Bankelal:
He is a comic character who is always shown in search of some way through which he could kill the King Vikram Singh and take over the throne. At the start of every comic book, he discovers some secret or important information surrounding which he designs his schemes. However, every time by the end of the comic his scheme backfires and King Vikram Singh gets profited. By the end of every comic book readers are left laughing. Bankelal was given the appearance of a not so good looking man. He has a small Charlie Chaplin kind of moustache and buckteeth.
Bankelal is shown as the adoptive son of ‘Nanku’ who’s a farmer and his wife ‘Gulabati’ who is a homely lady and a devotee of Lord Shiva. Bankelal has been portrayed as a super notorious child. So much so, that in one story it was told that once when Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati visited his home and his mother offered them milk; Bankelal put a frog in the milk. This enrages Lord Shiva and he cursed him that in future if he ever tries to do any harm to anybody, his plan will backfire rather benefitting the victim. In doing so he will also get benefitted a little. His curse works in favor of King Vikram Singh which saves him from Bankelal’s trick gaining him more wealth with every experience.
Doga:
He is probably the most famous antihero of Indian comic books. His existence comes as an orphan infant found in the rubbish dump by dacoit Halkan Singh and he used him as a shield to save himself from the Police. After taking the child with him in his den he treated him like a dog (He even named him kutte) and made him witness horrors of life. Somehow he escapes his captivity with another girl Sonu who was kidnapped by the dacoit. Late he was shown getting in touch with four brothers i.e. Adrak Chacha, Dhania Khan, Haldi Khan and Kali Mirch Khan the owners of the Lion Gym and seeing his devotion they let him train under them.
Vigorous training gave him lots of muscles and strength. He also learned martial arts, boxing and marksmanship. He took the identity of Doga and wore a dog mask. His image is that of a one man army and he vows to remove organized crime. He is shown working mainly in Mumbai. His love interest is Monika who is the daughter of Inspector Cheetah, a retired police officer and a private detective.
Bhokal:
He is a warrior prince descended from the fictional land of Pari Lok. His real name is Alop. He has come to yet another fictional town Vikasnagar on planet earth with the intension of taking part in a fighting tournament. He has superhuman strength and is a skilled swordsman. He also has a shield which helps him block any natural or supernatural attack. The shield also allows Bhokal to fly to his desired destination. His love interest was Turin, a princess from another planet. She later becomes his wife. She also has a shape shifting pet cat which can fly.
Parmanu:
A school going boy Vinay witnesses his classmate getting killed by some criminals and vows to revenge her death. He finds out that the head of police was behind this all. He finds out that the murder weapon a revolver and is chased by goons of the police head who wants him dead. However, his uncle, a professor K.K Verma saves him and shares his secret costume which when worn can give Vinay a lot of superpowers. He wears it and kills his enemies along with the head of police. His costume provides him with many atomic superpowers which include atomic rays, teleportation and shrink rays.
Tinkle:
With the tagline ‘Where learning meets fun’ Tinkle meets every child’s expectation by being a complete package consisting of stories, comics, puzzles and quizzes. It has been an important part of developing India and its readership included many adults too. It had an intoxicating mix of stories and children columns and provided the perfect blend of education and entertainment. Characters like Suppandi and Shikari Shambhu, Tantri the mantri and Kalia came to fame riding Tinkle’s shoulders.
Suppandi is one of the most famous character of Tinkle who is a simple villager whose ignorant but faithful attitude costs him many jobs. In one such strip a postman comes to deliver a letter for Suppandi and he being an illiterate asks him to read it for him. While he was reading it, Suppandi runs and covers the postman’s ears. When he was questioned for his action, he simply replied, “This part of the letters concerns my family business and I don’t want you to hear it.” In another one he was shown asking a blind beggar for his proof of blindness. When he told him that he cannot see the tree which Suppandi can see, this simpleton believes him and gives him alms while feeling sorry for him. His stupidity or lack of understanding left sreader chuckling every time.
Shikari Shambhu got his title ‘Shikari’ (hunter) from the fact that he once fell on a tiger while trying to hide from him which made him unconscious. People thought that the tiger was captured because of his bravery and hence he has given the title. In reality Shikari Shambhu is a fearful hunter who rather lives life lazily. In most of his episodes, he tries to run away from dangerous animals but somehow ends up capturing them and becoming a hero. This character is always shown wearing a hat so big that it covers his eyes and curvy black moustaches. He is also shown carrying a large rifle which he has never used properly.
Another character which was a regular in Tinkle was Kalia the crow. He has his friends Keechu and Meechu (the rabbits), Shonar (a deer) and Babloo (a bear). Apart from these there are Chamataka (a jackal) who is also the main baddie of the jungle who is either after rabbits or other small animals or after Babloo’s honeycombs. Kalia with his intelligence is shown saving everyone from Chamataka. Chamataka also has a best friend Doob Doob (a crocodile) who is a little dumb and despises Kalia. Many times it was shown that Kalia fools Doob Doob to save the rabbits. Lubdubi is Doob Doob’s girlfriend and it is his dream to fly some day.
Nasruddin Hodja was another creation of Tinkle which made its way to the reader’s hearts through his wit and cheeky ideas. He has many enemies, who try to put him down, however, Hodja with his smartness gets out of the situation turning the tables on his haters.
Madhu Muskan:
Madhu Muskan was a humorous magazine where most of its characters were designed to make people laugh. The central character was ‘Daddy Ji’ who remained part of this comic book for almost 25 years. He was the poster boy for every Madhu Muskan issue. He was shown as self boasting who kept botching every situation. He was the kind of character who can be found in every family. Daddy and his son Jojo who is shown as the main source of Daddy Ji’s plight was another important character of the plot.
Sometimes he teamed up with his friend Headache, which does justice to his name when adding Daddy ji’s misery. Simple day to day life was portrayed between father and son. In one such front page Daddy Ji was shown brushing teeth and Jojo was telling him that he has taken his toothbrush to apply grease on his cycle. Daddy jee is shown as complete foodie. A typical Punjabi who loves non-vegetarian and loath any kind of diet. Some of Madhu Muskan’s covers made fun of his attitude towards food too.
At one place he was shown freaking out while reading Dr. Bhatnagar’s prescription where he was asked cut his diet to two chapattis a day and a bowl of yellow dal in his lunch, whereas Jojo is shown smirking on his situation adding to his misery by further describing that dal should be without salt and chapattis without ghee. Many such situations were added to make the character everyone’s favorite. Another character in Daddy Ji was Malik sahib who was his boss and a miser. He was shown as a Punjabi speaking man who adorned a flower above his ear.
Popat-Chopat:
It was another loved cartoon of Madhu Muskan. The characters were the Indian version of Laurel and Hardy. Popat is shown as fat with his tummy bulging out from his shirt and Chopat as the slim one of the two. In many episodes Popat entertained readers by cracking joke on his obesity. The 1974 New Year’s issue shows Chopat measuring Popat’s fat tummy saying every year there is an inch increment wondering what will happen to it in the year 2074. Malik Sahib is shown as their boss too.
Babloo:
Babloo, a teenage detective was famous for his valor and intelligence in solving mysteries. It was shown that his uncle is a superintendent of police and he always looked forward to taking his help in solving cases.
Daku Pan Singh, as per the name this character was famous for his goodness and his love for pan where he gets immense strength after chewing on a pan. He is shown as a risk taking and fearless dacoit.
Amar Chitra Katha:
As per records it is said to be one of India’s largest selling book series. It was created keeping the most basic thing in mind – to teach students more about Indian history and cultural heritage. The books were published under different genres. There were Fables and Folklores under which Panchtantra comes. :ike Aesop Fables, it used different animals and their natural characteristics, teaching human behavior and psychology. Stories like the ‘Thirsty Crow’, ‘The Lion and the Rabbit’, ‘Foolish Crocodile’ etc not only entertained children, but also left them with a lesson to learn.
Next was Mythology where children were given information about stories that build Indian culture whether it was Ramayana or stories of Krishna, Tales of Shiva or any other God and demon. Amar Chitra Katha brought it to every child’s shelf and explained with ease all that was to be known.
The Epics was the genre under which stories like Mahabharata, Heroes of Hampi etc. were published. It was easier to make students understand the complication of Mahabharata through illustrated comics than telling them in the form of a story. For parents too, it was a good way of keeping children busy.
Another genre which Amar Chitra Katha provided was Humor and Wit and The Biographies. Under these segments books like Birbal and Mahatma Gandhi were published. In short Amar Chitra Katha picked up the torch of educating children with aspects which were left untouched otherwise. It used the most loved medium to do the honor and needless to say that it is has been immensely successful. Keeping itself updated Amar Chitra Katha evolved and launched its free mobile app for Windows, iOS and Android phones where users can browse their favorite book from the archive and can also access the upcoming editions. There are both free and paid comics that users can either read in the app or can download on multiple devices using same account.
Lot Pot:
Lotpot was best known for its characters Motu and Patlu. They were friends with their physical appearance more or less like Popat Chopat but were much more popular among the masses. Motu as the name says was fat amongst the two and Patlu, resembling his name was the slim one. They were simple people with a heart of gold but are shown getting caught up in silly plots tickling the readers. Motu is also shown as an avid samosa fan as a samosa provides him with instant power. Their gang consisted of Ghasitaram who’s pet dialogue in every complicated situation being, “I have twenty years of experience of solving it.” Dr. Jhatka who is scientist and loves experimenting and inventing different gadgets, however none of his inventions are useful and most of the time Motu Patlu gets caught in trouble due to his funny inventions. Chelaram who was another funny member of the group his physical appearance consist of buckteeth which makes him stand out. Motu Patlu became so famous that in the year 2012 an animated series was developed which was an instant hit. There were some character additions in the animated series, namely Inspector Chingam, John the thief, Chaiwala (samosewala), boxer etc. The series just like its comics, was a big hit among children and adults.
Chandamama:
It was a monthly magazine which was present in most households. It was best known for its artwork and published long running stories full of mythology and magic. It had a very different approach towards story telling. It kept the suspense going taking cues from various Indian and foreign texts.
It has published a very successful and never ending story of Vikram and Baital in which King Vikramaditya was given a task by Vamachari – a tantric disguised as a sage to bring Baital ( a pishach) for a religious practice. It was a difficult task which Vikramaditya vowed to fulfill. Every time Vikram captures Baital, he offers to tell a story with a promise that he will not speak or interfere in between. Baital always finishes a story with a question and asks Vikram to solve it for him threatening him every time that if he stayed quiet even after knowing the answer then he will face heavy consequences. Vikarmaditya was known for his valor and for his truthfulness, each time he is shown solving the riddle and Baital leaving him to go back to his resting place. Next issue starts from the start with Vikramaditya recapturing Baital to take him along with.
Champak:
Champak was a fortnightly magazine which was very popular amongst children. It was published in both a magazine style and comic strips. Many of its stories just like Panchtantra took animals as their muse and taught children different things in simple ways. It also started a story writing competition for children below 12 years which was judged by novelist Chhaya Singh and Vinay Kumar. Annual writing and painting competition held by Champak has been named ‘Champak Creative Childs Contest.’
Comic books lived as a family member of every child who grew up in the 90’s and still remain fresh in their memory. Today when Indian Comic books are either on their way of digitalization, or have lost their charm, it is for us to help them survive by introducing them to our children. Today’s generation prefers watching cartoons on television rather than sitting and reading comics. They do not understand the thrill one feels while reading and the places our brain travels while reading. Irrespective of the odds, many comics in the race for survival have digitalized themselves and have their websites or Apps from where reader can access to the content. Now it is our job to let them get past our devices so our little ones too can live the enchanted world we accessed.
This article was originally published in the May 2017 issue of ScooNews magazine. Subscribe to ScooNews Magazine today to have more such stories delivered to your desk every month.