Return of the comics

After a decade-long hiatus, the Indian comic industry is showing signs of revival, writes Ashwaq Masoodi

BE it the wit of the red turbaned Chacha Chaudhary or the bravery of super commando Dhruv, the Indian comic characters seem to have successfully revived their popularity, after a hiatus of nearly a decade.

The Indian comic industry saw a decline in sale and readership from around the mid 1990 to early 2004 but now the major publishers of comic books in the country are hoping better days.

"From 1997 to around 2003, because of the introduction of newer forms of media, our sale was affected...even our advertisers shifted. I wouldn’t say the industry is seeing a massive boom now...but it is growing steadily," Chairman Diamond Comics, Gulshan Rai said.

Indian comic characters like Billoo, Pinki, Doga, Maha bali, Bankelal, Chacha Chaudhary, Supandi, Dhruv, Nagaraj and many more have been entertaining the Indian audience for long now but after the entry of newer media like cartoon channels, internet, their demand fell.

"Sales went down from 5 lakh an issue to almost 50,000-60,000 and we are now again witnessing an upward trend," Raj Comics owner, Manoj Gupta said.

The industry, to cope with the fall in popularity and increasing inclination of the Indian youth towards the internet, transcended to the e-market, leading publishers claim.

"We are reconnecting with our old fans, who had given up comic reading. New media is the key component of our turn around strategy and we are heavily investing on these initiatives," Gupta said.

Publishers like Diamond comics and Raj comics have been in the industry for the past three decades and have been catering to a large chunk of audience both in and outside the country.

"There are many Indian fans living abroad. The increasing demand has forced us to make e-comics," Gulshan said.

Blaming the decline in comic culture to the advent of satellite TV, internet, video games and other media of entertainment for children, many comic distributors and publishers are fighting hard to be at par with these media in the entertainment industry.

Diamond Comics has planned to launch a TV channel that will have shows based on some of its popular characters in animated versions, including Chacha Chaudhary.

Diamond Comics, which has other popular comic characters such as Billoo, Captain Vyom, Chotu Lambu, Pinki and Mahabali Shaka, is also planning to promote and sell them on other digital platforms like Internet, television, Direct-to-Home (DTH) and mobiles.

Taking a leap into the celluloid also, the dog-masked popular superhero from Raj Comics is set to be developed into a movie by filmmaker Anurag Kashyap soon. — PTI