There's something about comic books and train journeys that binds them together. Whenever I travel by train, I try to squeeze in a few minutes to reach the books and comics hawker and grab a few comic books. I do this even when I am carrying my own book to read. When I look back, I think Chacha Chaudhary and his creator Pran are to be thanked for this tiny custom. The bond between train journeys and Chacha Chaudhary comic books seems to be hidden in the perspective that they both offer about the idyllic Indian life.
It's highly possible that the first book outside the curriculum that I laid my hands on was a Chacha Chaudhary comic. I remember the plots being high on simplicity and the language as chaste as textbook Hindi. They were childishly funny and interesting; clearly aimed at younger readers.
Chachaji has no superpower except that his brain works faster than a computer. Most of the stories started off with Chachaji at his home struggling in a friendly tiff with his wife. A police officer would approach Chachaji and ask for his help in solving a tough case. With his brain and his accomplice Sabu's thew, the case would be solved in about four pages. Most of the stories were signed off with a signature "Chalo Sabu," from Chachaji. An extreme show of brainpower came with a footnote: 'Chacha Chaudhary's brain works faster than a computer'. A panel with a volcanic eruption on Jupiter appeared immediately after a panel that depicted Sabu's anger. The footnote said: "Sabu's anger leads to an volcanic eruption on Jupiter". You could tell a bad guy by his name - Baarood Singh, Gobar Singh, Dhamaka Singh, etc. The backgrounds in all the panels were simple with just rectangular blocks for buildings. Homes and offices looked the same except that homes had clothes drying out on their windows. Every action sequence appeared with a sound. Ratatatat for firing of bullets, dhadaam for blasts, kikkkk for kick, bhadaam for a punch and hooo-hoooba when Sabu lifted heavy things. What fun! I guess it was even the pictorial depiction that got me so involved. There was hardly any detailing to the backgrounds. But all areas seemed just as they should be - without any crowd and with open spaces.
Chachaji has no superpower except that his brain works faster than a computer. Most of the stories started off with Chachaji at his home struggling in a friendly tiff with his wife. A police officer would approach Chachaji and ask for his help in solving a tough case. With his brain and his accomplice Sabu's thew, the case would be solved in about four pages. Most of the stories were signed off with a signature "Chalo Sabu," from Chachaji. An extreme show of brainpower came with a footnote: 'Chacha Chaudhary's brain works faster than a computer'. A panel with a volcanic eruption on Jupiter appeared immediately after a panel that depicted Sabu's anger. The footnote said: "Sabu's anger leads to an volcanic eruption on Jupiter". You could tell a bad guy by his name - Baarood Singh, Gobar Singh, Dhamaka Singh, etc. The backgrounds in all the panels were simple with just rectangular blocks for buildings. Homes and offices looked the same except that homes had clothes drying out on their windows. Every action sequence appeared with a sound. Ratatatat for firing of bullets, dhadaam for blasts, kikkkk for kick, bhadaam for a punch and hooo-hoooba when Sabu lifted heavy things. What fun! I guess it was even the pictorial depiction that got me so involved. There was hardly any detailing to the backgrounds. But all areas seemed just as they should be - without any crowd and with open spaces.
Here are a couple of plots that I remember:
The only series of books that I remember which was dedicated to one particular villain was the Raka one. This guy is the biggest nemesis of Chacha Chaudhary. I remember he was shrunk, captured in a bottle and thrown down an ocean. But he returned. Then he was sent off to another planet. But he returned (using a couple's satellite who decide to land on that planet and collect some material)! I think currently he's locked up in some cave. This was easily the best set of books in the series.
I remember the first page of the comic that gave a brief profile of the creator. This profile had the exact same words and never changed. It said that he was born in Kasoor which is now in Pakistan. His cartoon strips are in some museum in America. He also holds some Limca record. Back then, he didn't really seem to be a big deal actually. Whenever I looked at his picture, he didn't come across as somebody who'd be into making cartoon sketches himself. Donning a wide smile and a posh suit, he seemed like somebody who owned the company that had hired some hundreds of cartoonists. It was only after the Chach Chaudhary series began airing on TV that I read up about Pran.
To my surprise, he was the force behind it all! The creator! Despite the advancements in animation technology, he used to sketch on paper. Talk about being a purist. I read a couple of his interviews where he talked about starting off in the 1960s as a small time cartoonist with the Shrimatiji series. This series that depicts the daily struggles of an Indian housewife is still published in some magazines. When asked about what made him start Chacha Chaudhary, he talked about creating a character that would appeal to the masses and was distinctly different from the western comic superhero characters like Mandrake, Phantom, etc. As a result, characters like Pinki, Billu, and Raman took form. They too had no special powers except the occasional comic instances in their lives. He wanted Indian cartoonists to be original in their work instead of imitating the works of established cartoonists abroad. He wished for a greater recognition for Indian cartoonists with possibly a museum dedicated to their work.
I heard about the news of Pran's demise this morning and my mind went back to those amazing days when I spent time with my collection of Diamond comics. I read some of them again and again even though I knew what was coming next and in fact, knew the lines by heart. It is thanks to his simple books that the first seeds of reading were sown in me. It was his creativity that had me engrossed in the simplest of tales. With all the short stories bound together in comic books and sweet memories, I am sure Pran has had an influence on what I have turned out to be. It must've been a struggle for him to take his characters from humble magazine strips to such a mass-scale publication when cartoons were hardly recognized by the Indian middle-5class. I am sure there are so many out there thanking him for sticking around. There's immense respect for somebody who creates something that is loved by the masses for half a century. May there be more Prans who drench our souls in the flow of their creativity. May there be immense recognition and reward for them.
It seems like the inner child in the superior power is in desperate need of some lighthearted laughter. Rest in peace, Pran.
- A dwarfish weightlifter named Piddi challenges people to lift bulldozers. Piddi lifts his bulldozer easily while the other person struggles to even move his bulldozer. Then Chacha Chaudhary finds out that Piddi's bulldozer is made of thermocol while the other bulldozer is made of steel.
- A customs officer asks Chacha Chaudhary to come to airport as he suspects a possible smuggling of drugs. Chachaji and Sabu are taken near an airplane where passengers (after having gone through security check) are queued up. Chacha's dog Raaket whiffs out the drugs stashed in a huge boil on the forehead of a cancer patient and that's the end of it.
The only series of books that I remember which was dedicated to one particular villain was the Raka one. This guy is the biggest nemesis of Chacha Chaudhary. I remember he was shrunk, captured in a bottle and thrown down an ocean. But he returned. Then he was sent off to another planet. But he returned (using a couple's satellite who decide to land on that planet and collect some material)! I think currently he's locked up in some cave. This was easily the best set of books in the series.
I remember the first page of the comic that gave a brief profile of the creator. This profile had the exact same words and never changed. It said that he was born in Kasoor which is now in Pakistan. His cartoon strips are in some museum in America. He also holds some Limca record. Back then, he didn't really seem to be a big deal actually. Whenever I looked at his picture, he didn't come across as somebody who'd be into making cartoon sketches himself. Donning a wide smile and a posh suit, he seemed like somebody who owned the company that had hired some hundreds of cartoonists. It was only after the Chach Chaudhary series began airing on TV that I read up about Pran.
To my surprise, he was the force behind it all! The creator! Despite the advancements in animation technology, he used to sketch on paper. Talk about being a purist. I read a couple of his interviews where he talked about starting off in the 1960s as a small time cartoonist with the Shrimatiji series. This series that depicts the daily struggles of an Indian housewife is still published in some magazines. When asked about what made him start Chacha Chaudhary, he talked about creating a character that would appeal to the masses and was distinctly different from the western comic superhero characters like Mandrake, Phantom, etc. As a result, characters like Pinki, Billu, and Raman took form. They too had no special powers except the occasional comic instances in their lives. He wanted Indian cartoonists to be original in their work instead of imitating the works of established cartoonists abroad. He wished for a greater recognition for Indian cartoonists with possibly a museum dedicated to their work.
I heard about the news of Pran's demise this morning and my mind went back to those amazing days when I spent time with my collection of Diamond comics. I read some of them again and again even though I knew what was coming next and in fact, knew the lines by heart. It is thanks to his simple books that the first seeds of reading were sown in me. It was his creativity that had me engrossed in the simplest of tales. With all the short stories bound together in comic books and sweet memories, I am sure Pran has had an influence on what I have turned out to be. It must've been a struggle for him to take his characters from humble magazine strips to such a mass-scale publication when cartoons were hardly recognized by the Indian middle-5class. I am sure there are so many out there thanking him for sticking around. There's immense respect for somebody who creates something that is loved by the masses for half a century. May there be more Prans who drench our souls in the flow of their creativity. May there be immense recognition and reward for them.
It seems like the inner child in the superior power is in desperate need of some lighthearted laughter. Rest in peace, Pran.
No comments:
Post a Comment