Indian Comics (Chitrakatha): Telling New Legends
India, a country revolving around Hinduism, its street vendors, train travel, and Bollywood. While still a somewhat developing country, recently some of India is getting recognition around the world. The movie Slumdog Millionaire especially with the song Jai Ho by A.R. Rahman, is likely some people's gateway. Other probably watch movies on Netflix like Enthiran. But what really reaches out to me is the Indian Comics that inspire even the West.
Indian Comics: Religious Depictions
Comics are easily one of the most expressive pieces of culture. In India, chitrakatha are often for telling religious myths and folktales. Compared to other countries comics, they begin more recent as early as the 1960s. But the peak of these comics are in the late 80s and early 90s. Sure these do best on the domestic market but even then, Indian comics get recognition. But these comic companies like Raj Comics use a network of distributions with a large amount of languages.
The Early Days of Indian Comics
Like many comics, chitrakatha (picture stories) start in newspapers and but are for people of the wealthy caste. But much like Buddhism, the comics went through a few changes including independence from Britain. Similar to other comics in different countries, the influence of more modern comics comes from American comics like Flash Gordon. Pretty soon the famous comic Amar Chitra Katha by Anant "Uncle" Pai comes into being, depicting Hindu Mythology in detail. That's not all, humor series like the anthology Tinkle gets notice as well. This in turn inspires the creation of Chacha Chaudhary, an intelligent old man who helps people.
Superheroes
The 70s release comics that rival American comic super heroes. With the political turmoil India goes through at the time, heroes give any caste hope. The 80s even put in their own resident superheroes including Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva of Raj Comics. It's practically a testament to how much development happens at this time. People are more literate, they share magazines, and the heroes form a new religion for its people.
The 90s meanwhile is where things start to take a downturn for comics with TV on the rise. That in and of itself is a sign of great economic gains with the rise in technology. Only a few publishers manage to get through the turn of the century and very few new comics could rise. One of the few that makes a great entrance is Bombaby: The Screen Goddess. This series along with the Indian Spider-Man inspire creators to press on with new projects. Some of which include Liquid (Virgin) Comics with Devi and Grant Morrison's Ramayana 3392 AD.
The Return of Fandoms
Recently, Indian Comics even have their comic conventions and even manga inspired comic books. Not to mention, some Western writers like Stan "The Man" Lee and Grant Morrison work with Indian artists for comics like Chakra the Invincible.
These guys are certainly lucky with the market not being very favorable. So independent creators take matters into their own hands. With better marketing with some companies and more experimentation in visuals, creators flourish again. Some graphic novels even become commonplace.
What Does it All Mean?
As for what makes them unique, that's simple Chitrakatha reflects the people and culture of India. Some comics and characters reflect the religious values of the chief religion Hinduism; Nagraj himself revolves on the concept of the Naga. Several characters reflect the best and worst parts of India. The character Doga in particular highlights some of the corruption in certain areas like human trafficking.
To this day India continues to struggle to keep comics on the radar. Most of their success comes in small but powerful packages including a few apps from Raj Comics and HuHuba. Projects like Xavi Origins: The Struggle and a graphic novel depiction of the Buddha from Campfire Studio also capture attention. These and earlier works like the Caravan from Yali Dreams even have what it takes for movies.
Why Aren't They Movies?
Like many comics, the Indian variety also have the basis of being just for kids. Series with more mature content are even in the kid's section. It's a little insulting and gives off the wrong message. Still maybe this can work in some creator's favor. Raj Comics even takes the initiative with trailers for both Dhruva and Nagraj.
However, when it comes to cross media appeal Graphic India seems to take lead. With animated series like Chakra: The Invincible taking the lead, more projects like Baahubali spring up. The market is open and people seem to have great interest.
Indian Comics Staying in the Loop
To this day, many artists and writers juggle jobs while doing whatever they can to stay afloat. For many fans, it's a part of their childhood that they throw money at. Others try to create their own comics for newer fans. Every creator in India continues the struggle to stay in the public eye. Some even take the opportunity to create stories from some of the other ethnic groups like the Gond. Stories like those show how India's struggles reflect a need for change. Priya's Shakti and its sequel Priya's Mirror for example is an international success for a couple reasons; this being the use of AR to enhance a message of standing up against violence on women and victim shaming.
Hopefully that means there are more opportunities to reach out to audiences. Thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.