Monday 29 September 2014

Rasheed Kappan Article

Indian artists vs Western icons (Deccan Herald) 
- Rasheed Kappan



Pic - Star Artist Mr. Abhishek Malsuni

Riveted to their globally marketed comic superheroes, thousands headed to the Bangalore Comic Con on Saturday.

On the sidelines of this hugely popular three-day art and illustration extravaganza, a bunch of Indian artists sat defiantly to beckon the youngsters to their brand of kitsch art. They were there to outwit their far superior comic book artists from the West, to carve a niche in a heavily contested market.

Spread out inside the 40,000 sq ft White Orchid Convention Centre at Bagmane Tech Park, the fest had big names from famed American and British comic books:The likes of Dan Parent, artist and writer best known for his work for Archies comics; David Lloyd, the British comics illustrator of the story ‘V for Vendattta’ and the American cartoonist Peter Kruper of the “Spy vs Spy” fame. Sporting masks and merchandise of their creations, seeking their autographs, their young fans ruled the centre.

Yet, the Indian avatars were in no mood to be outdone. Packing a punch, Amar Chitra Katha stood out with a massive pavilion. Its photobooths, quizzes, puppets and story-telling contests were designed to rev up the legendary comic books built on a liberal dose of pop mythology and culture. Raj Comics had book launches galore. Day 2 saw the unveiling of the Ravanayan Finale and The Kaurava Empire series.

Hovering artists

Outside this comic book straightjacket hovered artists such as Vikram Nandwani. He had given up his high-paying Infosys job to rebrand himself as a graphic designer, an artist hooked onto vector drawings and water colours to be reflected on flashy art merchandise. His “Verry India” brand had his art on T-shirts, bags, mousepads, laptops and iPad slings, clutches and wallets. 

Sameer Hazari was another engineer-turned-artist challenging the global crowd-pullers. Graduating from PES Institute of Technology here, he had realised early that his real call was art. So he packed off to London, finishing his Master of Fine Arts from Middlesex. The next six years, he reinvented himself, packaging his paintings on usable stuff. “I sensed it was the best thing.

My works resonates with the younger crowd. It gets easier to connect with them when the art works are put on mugs and T-shirts and more,” he explained to Deccan Herald.

Art merchandising was precisely what drove Mumbai-based Jenny Bhatt to print her works on coasters and iPhone covers. Under her banner, “Moksha Shots,” Bhatt had her exclusive range of art toys and abstract ethnic icons to beckon the crowds. 

“I know it will take time for Indian artists to make a mark. Indians automatically gravitate to anything foreign. But the younger crowds are showing interest, they are open to check what we do too,” said she.

Saturday 20 September 2014

From Indian Comics Fandom FB Page




Cartoonist Rohan Chakravarty finds wildlife incredibly funny. His affliction is contagious and his first solo exhibition is sure to infect you with the same incurable case of chuckles.

If you haven’t heard of Rohan Chakravarty you’ve been missing out on an entire parallel universe of laughs. Add to that chuckles, sniggers, guffaws and other varieties of ROFL. If you are a wildlife enthusiast or a birder, your error of omission is unpardonable. Read between those laugh lines, and you’ll see that Rohan is a wildlife crusader in mufti. While his gags are spot on, his witty, sardonic swipes at real, pressing environmental issues are unerring and razor-keen.

Rohan, who calls Nagpur home but has been based out of Bangalore for a while, trained to be a dentist. However, destiny and a beautiful tigress conspired (or perhaps inspired?) to get him to sink his fangs in this rather unrewarding pursuit. Most of us with bad teeth have more than a rough idea of how much dentists take home on average, and naturally Rohan’s career choice raised as many hackles as eyebrows. Making a living as a cartoonist, by Rohan’s own admission, isn’t for the “weak-arted”.

So here’s redemption. Rohan’s first solo exhibition – Wildlife the Toonie Way – will grace the august halls of the Indian Cartoon Gallery on Bangalore’s MG Road from September 13 to 27, 2014. After you read this interview, you’ll drop everything and go.
In a freewheeling email conversation (whatever the heck that means) with Travel Editor Bijoy Venugopal, Rohan Chakravarty chats about work and play though usually both mean the same thing to him.
Excerpts:

What’s Wildlife the Toonie Way all about?
Wildlife the Toonie Way is a series of wildlife caricatures I am illustrating in a bid to create a bank of fun, delightful and quirky illustrations that capture wildlife in its full glory, intended for publication and use in wildlife/ conservation related multimedia. Having created more than 70 such pieces, I am conducting my first solo exhibition in Bangalore, from September 13 to 27, where I will be displaying and selling prints of these caricatures. 



What’s so inspiring about wildlife? Do you find them cooler than politicians or celebs?
I love drawing things that are beautiful. That rules out politicians. I also love drawing things that aren’t fake. That rules out celebs. I have tried my hands at various subjects as a cartoonist, but only wildlife gave me a true sense of contentment. I think I just relate better with animals rather than people. (It’d be so much wiser to just piss on your property to say it’s yours, rather than build a fence around it!)

You poke merciless fun at your characters but always leave an underlying message in there for humans. What are you getting at with your cartoons?
Frankly, the core purpose of drawing cartoons for me is just to make some mischief every day and have fun. The conservation messages and the trivia thus portrayed are the by-products.
You’re a conservationist and activist at heart. And there’s nothing funny about the fate of wildlife the world over. Is there a serious side to Rohan the cartoonist?

My friends often call me a grumpy ol’ man, so I guess the humorous side to me is the actual surprise! Reading about all the pain, injustice and exploitation that wildlife faces every day, does make you clench your teeth and fists in anger. Fortunately for me, my clenched fists always find a pen in them and they’re learning what to do with it.
How far have you travelled to get an idea of what a certain critter looks like? Share that story with us.

The first story that comes to my mind is my attempt to sight the Greater Adjutant Stork, an endangered bird that is found only in a massive garbage dump in the outskirts of Guwahati. I had just landed in Guwahati and was supposed to travel to Arunachal Pradesh the following morning to attend the Arunachal Bird Festival. Since it wasn’t dusk yet, I knew I had a chance of seeing the bird. I had done a rough sketch of the Adjutant in the plane, and using it like a police sketch, me and a visibly dumbfounded cab driver (because no one before had ever asked him to be driven from the airport straight to the city’s largest dump), embarked on the stork’s trail, and we were shortly rewarded with a sighting of around 150 of these very rare, very ugly birds!

Who or what inspired you to become a cartoonist? What’s the story behind Green Humour? And does your family think you’re nuts?
I think I learnt to appreciate the nitty-gritties of the cartooning business from a very early age watching the work of Hanna Barbera and Genndy Tartakovsky. Even though they were motion animators, their shows had gags crafted very cleverly (and I really pity the kind of shows kids today grow up watching). Tartakovsky particularly has been a prime source of inspiration, right from the very first episode of Dexter’s Laboratory I watched. I was so smitten by his work, that as a school kid, I often adapted his characters into my storylines and created little comic books out of them. I drew these comics everywhere – in my notebooks, on the corners of textbooks, on my desk, on the wall. Some of my teachers, who borrowed my notebooks full of comics, still have them!

By the time I was into my teens, the thought of pursuing cartooning as a career had somehow been vanquished by peer and parental pressure of being a part of the ‘SEE/PMT’ rat race. Somehow I made my way into a dental college and finished my degree sailing through it aimlessly and lifelessly. It was during my dentistry days that I met a beautiful tigress on my first serious ‘safari’ and I then tried my hand at portraying conservation messages through cartoons. Over time, some of these had started getting noticed and published, and while I knew that making a living out of it would be out of bounds, it was certainly something I would want to have a shot at. I trained myself with animation design, took up a job in Bangalore as a pre-production artist and illustrator, funding myself while I conceived and drew my wildlife cartoons, ‘Green Humour’, by the side. In June 2014 I quit the job to devote all my time to Green Humour, and see where it goes.
There’s no doubt that my family thinks I am nuts. But still somehow, I have their unconditional support. I think somewhere deep down, they’ve got to be nuts too!


-----------------------------------

The Narrative of Comics *Event Update*



KOCHI: ‘Image - Text - Sound’ is a day-long comics workshop by comics creator and researcher Gokul Gopalakrishnan. It will be held on September 20, at the David Hall, Fort Kochi. 

Gokul is a comics creator and researcher based in Thrissur. His comic strip ‘Small Talk’ appears in ‘The New Indian Express’ Sunday paper. A regular comics contributor to other newspapers, his writings on comics have appeared in academic and popular journals.
Along with providing an overview of the history of the development of comics narrative, the workshop shows how comics uses disparate elements like image, text, sound, space and time to weave engaging narratives. This is perfect for comic aficionados, interested readers and aspiring creators, as it deals with the poetics of comics creation, with examples from works of comics creators across the globe.

At 6 p.m., on the same day, there is a book reading by cartoonist EP Unny from his book, ‘Santa and the Scribes: The Making of Fort Kochi’.

Friday 19 September 2014

Buddha - A Story of Enlightenment




Artist Mr. Harshvardhan Kadam - "The first comic book I illustrated in 2007/08 is available in print now. It was a long wait to see a hardcopy of it, hold it in hands and remember days-nights which were put in to The story of Enlightenment." Available online.

Saturday 6 September 2014

SARVNAYAK CRITICISM FEUD

आज कल राज कॉमिक्स के नए सेट के आने के बाद ग्रुप पर हलचल कुछ बढ़ गयी है...सभी कॉमिक प्रेमी प्रफुल्लित होकर अपने अपने कॉमिक्स का आनंद ले रहे हैं! ऐसे में कुछ को कॉमिक पसंद आती है और कुछ को नहीं भी!
लेकिन आज कॉमिक जगत में एक महत्वपूर्ण वाकया सामने आया...और उसको सभी के साथ शेयर करना जरूरी है!
दिल्ली के कॉमिक प्रेमी नलिनाक्ष ईशू ने कई कॉमिक ग्रुप्स में (6 सितम्बर 2014) को सर्वनायक सीरीज को लेकर अपनी व्यक्तिगत राय लिखी! जिसपर ग्रुप के अन्दर काफी अच्छा तर्क संगत विचारों का आदान प्रदान पाठको के बीच हुआ!
लेकिन इसके ठीक एक दिन के बाद  सर्वनायक के लेखक श्री नितिन मिश्रा जी ने इस वाकये के विरोध स्वरुप अपनी फेसबुक वाल पर 2 पोस्ट्स करी...जो नीचे उल्लेखित हैं!

नलिनाक्ष ईशू > Indian comics universe fan club

इस सर्वनायक कामिक्स सीरीज से ही तो लोगो की असली पोल खुल रही है,,,,अपने को काबिल समझने वाले...ीक तरफ तो किक ,,चेन्नई express ,, जै हो सिघम रिटर्न जैसी मूवी को बंडल ..इन्हे हिट कराने वालो को सूतिया....बालीवूुड को बकवास कहते है,,,,,लेकिन वही इस सर्वयुगम जैसी सीरीज पर मुह मे दही जमा लेते है.... जो उपाधि आप किक व चेन्नई इक्स्प्रेस देखने वालो को दे रहे है उससे बडी उपाधि अपने आप को भी दीजिये जो आपको ये सीरीज बहुत पसंद आ रही है,,,,,,, काएयो ने तो पोल खोल ही दी है,,,,मै अपनी पे आ जाउगा तो हिल जायेगे अंध भक्त लोग....लेकिन फिर इस जैसी सीरीज पे मै अपना समय नही लगा सकता... .... इस पूरी सीरीज की लिखाई से लेके पेंसिल घिसाई से लेके कलर पोताई तक मे नुक्स तो खुद आप कई फैन ने ही दिखा दिये है.....सीरीज यकीनन मजेदार है,,,,,और हो भी क्यो न हम मे से ९०% फैन्स की फंटसी Hero vs Hero कामिक्स के रूप मे हाथो मे है,,,,,लेकिन आप इन्हे आल टाईम बेस्ट कहे वा उप्रोक्त फिल्मो को बंदल कबाडा,,,भारतीय सिनेमा पे कलंक ,,,,,तो ये दोहरा मापदंड ही हुआ,,,
मैने कामिकस और फिल्मो को इस लिये एक मे तोला क्योकि दोनो के प्राण कथा कारिता ही है.....इस एक मामले मे ...दोनो एक ही वर्ग मे आते है.... मनोरंजन...... और यकीनन ,,,,ये सर्वसंग्राम सीरीज कामिक्स जगत मे रोहित शेट्टी मार्का फिल्म का ही दर्जा रखती है...... एक को नकार के दूसरी को सर आंखो पे बिठाना,,,मेरी समझ से परे है!
 
 
 
 
Post Link : https://www.facebook.com/nitin.mishra.942/posts/924250517590217
पिछले आठ सालों से जो क्रांतिकारी पाठक धमकियां पेल रहे हैं कि अब हम कॉमिक्स पढना छोड़ देंगे वो कृपा कर के अपने कहे पर खरे उतर कर दिखाएं, पूरा कॉमिक्स जगत धन्य होगा|
  • Pardeep Verma Uddibaba....nitin sir ji....kisi cmx ka dailog h kya.....?
  • Avinash Tiwari Mera bhi unse yahi nivedan hai.. halanki mai manta hoon ki criticism bahot zaroori hai kisi bhi writer ke liye lelin wo healthy criticism hona chahiye.. kuch logo ke comments to criticism nahi khunnas lagte hain.. jaise koi personal dushmani nikal rahe hon aur turra ye ki aisa lagta hai wo duniya ke sabse bade gyani hain aur baki janta nira moorkh..
  • Nitin Mishra ऐसे तुर्रम खान अपने पर्सनल ओपिनियन और क्रिटिसिज़म की बत्ती बना कर अपने पजामे के नाड़े में डाल लें, नहीं तो इतनी खुन्नस है तो आकर फेस टू फेस बोले, मैं सही जगह दिखा दूंगा क्रिटिसिजम डालने के लिए|
  • Rahul Vikram Nitin is untamed tonight!
  • Akash Singh Verma wahhhhhhhhh wahhhhhh wahhhhhh nitin sir mza aagya,,,, ye status un baddimak gadho ke muh per tamacha hai jo bolne se pehle kisi ki mehnat kisi ke balidaan kisi ke diye samye ki parwah nhi krte or na he bade chhotey ki ijjat mai bhot khush hoon aapki aisi pratikriya se thanksssssss we love you nitin sirr aapka kaam mujhay bhot pasand hai
  • Arbu Aala Re hamne chod di thi beech me 5 saal tak, pehle paise bachha bacha ke kharidte the, daily 10 KM chalte the ki paise bache

    ab fir se padhne lage
  • Puneet Singhal Waah Sir... Aj Subah Se Kafi Gussa Mujhe Bhi Isi Baat Par Aa Raha Tha But Aisa KrantaKari Post Dalne Ki Himmat Na Hui..."!
    Hats Off.."!
  • Gopal Sharma ज़बर्दस्त नितिन सर ।आपसे ऐसे ही पोस्ट की आसा थी ।मै भी चाहता हु की यो जो रोज रोज धमकिय देते है एक बार कर के दिखाए ।खुद तो उनमे कुछ करने की हिम्मत नहीं और दुसरो के काम में नुख्स निकलने से पीछे नहीं हटते।
  • Gopal Sharma ये लोग बस भ्रम फैलाते है लोगो में ।इन्हें पता ही नहीं कॉमिक्स होती क्या है।
  • Wolf Lone No true fanboy can EVER quit reading comics.
  • Pardeep Verma Nitin Mishra sir ji Raj comics ki jaan h.........sir ji k jo bhi project running me h ya upcming h sabhi se raj comics din dugni raat chougni tarraki karega......aur hum jaise fans ka bharpur manoranjan hota rahega........!
  • Dhawal Upadhyaya Kachara kachara kachara Vahiyat kachara. Review ko the only view samajh lia gaya hai. Hum to andh bhakt hain unki nazaro me! Sari pol patti isi comic me khol di jae taaki fir series bhar kaha jaa sake "oh ye to bahut predictable tha!" Log jab 'marval' ki duhai dete hain to vaha se hat jana hi tark sangat lagta hai.
  • Vikas SaVi Maheshwari eehihihihihhihihiihihihihihi Sir gym ka galat asar pd rha hai kya! WWE jyada dekh rhe hain ajkl lagta hai
  • Nitin Mishra milne aa rahe ho na, sabse pehla trial tumpar hi hoga Vikas SaVi Maheshwari
  • Dhawal Upadhyaya People's elbow ?
  • Vikas SaVi Maheshwari my new status... feeling TOMBSTONED by Nitin sir
  • Aman Kumar Sahmat hu sir ji.
  • Dhawal Upadhyaya 16 X gussa bhi khatm
  • Uttam Singh Kuch log comics ke kejriwal hote hai. Har bat par virodh karna aur dharne par baith jana apna janamsiddh addhikar samjhte hai chahe achi comics ho ya buri. Aise log samay ke sath kejriwal ki tarah hi aprashangik ho jate hai. Nitin Sir u r doing great so don't worry;;kuch log to anupam ji ke liye bhi khte hai ki unki comics bekar hoti hai(chahe comics padhna seekha unhi ki comics padhkar ho par kya kare apna attitude to dikhana hai na jamane me).
  • Akshay Rana sir to aaj Saabu bane pade hain. news dekho bhai log kahi Jwalamukhi fata hoga
  • Narendra Kothari Nitin sir doga,parmanu,tiranga k bi solo nikale to mai bi ni chordunga Rc padhna..
  • Narendra Kothari Maine ,pehli baar jab rc padhna chordha tha tab comeback apki likhi comix mrityujivi se ki..kamal ki comix thi,..
  • Shubham Nanet Such kahu to mai such may chod dunga . Lekin sarvnayak series padhane k baad .
  • Mayank S Thakur mujhe bus comics chahiye aur kuch nahi bhale hi usme sirf artwork kyon na ho.......mujhe sabhi kahani utni hi pasand hai jitni ki #Sarvnayak series pasand hai.....ab hisaab laga lo......criticize/aalochna is typ ki bhasha mujhe nahi pata.....RC comics publish karti rahe main comics padhta rahoonga.....!!!!!
  • Narendra Kothari Hme to bas artwork chahiye bhale story jyada khas na ho par..aisa ni ki release hui 10 me 2 ki story thik hai..bas request hai Sanjay sir,nitin sir please bring doga,bhokal,parmanu ,tiranga solo's back.
  • Narendra Kothari Yup right Ajo bhai,bina comics k hum bina jal k machli
  • Harish Atharv Thakur mera comeback hua aapki liki comic "Takshak" se... uss tym thoda smjh na aaya coz almost 7-8 year ka gap ho gaya tha... but jub aapk likhi baki series like "world terrorism", "mrityujivi", "dhikkar" , "antardwand' etc padhi wo mujhe kafi pasnd aayi... thn "veergati" mujhe aapka fan bnane k liye kaafi thi... aur recent me NNN origin is my fov...
  • Narendra Kothari Veergati to lajawab thi ,.bas kshatipoorti me dekhna hai ki kya hoga apne atankharta ka..
  • Mayank S Thakur #Veergati #Dhikkar & #Narak_Naashak_Naagraj series ki to baat hi mat karo har comics fan ki fav me shumaar hai yeh series.......Veergati ko to poochna hi mat...bubububbubu rula hi dala tha is comics ne to....
  • Vikas SaVi Maheshwari sir aap sir me pain na lijiye..they r pain in ass, inhe Wahi rehne dijiye
    . jiski khyati hawaao me khushboo bn k ud rhi hoti h use hi sabse gandi aalochnaao ka samna karna padta hai... u r #narendraMODI of raj comics to sochiye anupam sir aur baki log kya honge! aise kejriwal to anargal bakte rahenge. aap aage badhiye. bs artwork k liye nivedan hai
  • Mayank S Thakur kya matlub hai #Vikas Bhai artwork ke liye nivedan hai se hihiihihhih achhe se bolo
  • Sameer Luckyy Achha artwork bhi jaruri he.. kai bar laga ki itni achhi story he but..
  • Vikas SaVi Maheshwari wo MAYANK bhai aiehehehehe... ab kya kahu agle hafte sir k ghar ja k wapis ek piece me lautna b hai so... ACHCHHEY se mt bolwaao yar
 
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ये अलग से पोस्ट कर रहा हूँ कि जिन हरामखोरों ने नहीं पढ़ा वो पढ़ लें

'ऐसे तुर्रम खान अपने पर्सनल ओपिनियन और क्रिटिसिज़म की बत्ती बना कर अपने पजामे के नाड़े में डाल लें, नहीं तो इतनी खुन्नस है तो आकर फेस टू फेस बोले, मैं सही जगह दिखा दूंगा क्रिटिसिजम डालने के लिए|'