The Indian Avengers in MW, May 2012

In the wake of The Avengers, I was asked to assemble an Indian Counterpart of the Superhero Team by Mans World Magazine for their May 2012 Issue. It was quite a task to pick the best out of the best Superheroes from Indian Comics, still I gave it a shot. I wish I had more time in hands to rake my brains and come up with better options for Hawk-Eye and Maria Hill. Personally I enjoyed making Sabu replace The Incredible Hulk in my list, both of them are known for their angst and hulky-size...

Confessions of an Online Shopper

Lets get one thing very clear - I don’t like to leave the comfort of my work desk. I hate going to shopping malls and stores until and unless its a matter of life & death or something as irresistible as the annual Landmark Sale or The Strand Book Sale.

Reason#1 – I dislike going through shelves after shelves looking for the title I want to buy (because while doing so I always end up buying a lot of titles/things, I was actually not looking for).

Reason#2 – Crowd… I always stay away from it.

Sadly I had to put through this nonsense (read Physical stores) till the mid 2000s, thanks to the super expensive shipping costs levied by websites like Amazon (I still ended up ordering some DVDs from amazon every now and then) or real bad online Indian shopping services like – Rediff (they once sent me a crushed mp3 player in 2004 and never bothered to replace or apologize for it).

Things changed with the advent of Flipkart.com, and I just loved it. Now I could order any book as and when it was released. Discounted price and service as good as any international online shopping website - Flipkart became my favorite-st online shopping joint (I didn't visit Landmark Store for almost 6 months after discovering Flipkart). The best thing about them was – They had an amazing – amazing collection of Graphic Novels, something that we all used to crave for. Today as proudly I flaunt my library these days, I also look at the hole in my pocket and blame Flipkart for it. Their service is still impeccable and at times I feel they’ve got aliens working for them ALA the post office sequence in MIB II. I mean how can you explain a neatly packed book (with a bookmark inside) reaching you within less than 24 hours of ordering.

Flipkart is like one of those super tidy girls in your class, who were always prompt with their projects and assignments and just too good to spoiling all the fun for an average joe like you (in this case for all the other online stores) by being Ohh-So-Perfect…. PFFFBBBT!!Huh!
Thanks for spoiling us with your brilliant service Flipkart, this made other online sellers had to pull up their socks. BRAVO!

But when there is competition this tough, other players also have some superb tricks up their sleeves. The next player in the game was Infibeam.com. In the days when Flipkart was just selling books, we could order DVDs and other Merchandise from infibeam. Also the books were/are available here at better discounts as compared to Flipkart, most of the times. Once, I was overcharged (Almost 50% more as compared to its price on Infibeam) for an ‘Art Of’ book on Flipkart. One phone call (comparing their price with infibeam) later, the good people at Flipkart credited my Flipkart account with the difference. Now I check and compare the prices before I order anything from Flipkart. Though their service is good, but it comes at a price that’s most of the times higher than Infibeam. Second reason to chose infibeam is – Their great collection of out of print books. Most of the time you can get these books from the resellers at a much cheaper price on infibeam – I have ordered C.C.Tsai’s Sunzi Speaks (that has been out of print since 1994) and many other rare to find titles from Infibeam and have got some brilliant discounts on all of them.

Next website, that I tried was Indiaplaza.in, and that was just because they were selling Sandman TPBs for almost 50% off the market price. The service was decent till I got a few books in such a mutilated condition that even my friendly neighborhood raddiwallah will think twice before showing them to me. Anyway, a few phone calls later Indiaplaza replaced the books, but that was it. I recently ordered one more book from them (just to use the discount coupon I had), and their service this time was decent enough to give them another shot. Have ordered one more book (that’s unavailable everywhere else), lets see how they perform this time.

While Flipkart and Infibeam have become my one stop destination for ordering books, DVDs etc. Landmark’s online portal Landmarkonthenet.com has also been one of the best sites for online shopping. Its just that most of the time discounts here are almost nonexistent as long as they are not having some Superb Online Sale going on. Their Graphic Novel Sale was really out of the world, where else can you get absolute editions at 65% off?. Great service, wish the prices were a little competitive, but definitely worth giving a shot.

Now, lets come to the most interesting website of them all – shopyourworld.com. It was as good as having an amazon.com in India, you can order anything from amazon.com using this website and the prices were always reasonable. I have been ordering action figures and other collectibles from amazon, using shopyourworld gateway, for more than two years now. Even though they constantly miss their delivery deadlines, the products always reached me in pristine condition, and I owe a big chunk of my action figure collection and international DVDs to this website. Then there was a hiccup. I had ordered a Tintin figure (The movie merchandise, not Herge’s Tintin) on 20^th December 2011, and when it didn’t arrive after almost a month, I decided to get in touch with them. I was shocked to see not only I was unable to get in touch with their customer care execs. but the company had already deleted their twitter account and their facebook page – It was alarming. Online forums were filled with hundreds of complains from the paranoid customers, calling the site a scam and how they had been duped. I was pretty scared too, it was my hard earned money and despite trying to get in touch with SYW I wasn’t able to speak with anyone who could assure me. The phone no. provided on the website would keep playing the IVR saying – All our customer care executives are busy… in loop for several minutes but will never connect you to the exec. I ended up shooting a worried mail to them and one fine day (almost a week after sending the mail), I got an apologetic call from the website stating some logistical problems that they were facing with a promise to fulfill my order by March 13^th they also offered me a small discount token on my next purchase. Though the forums are still buzzing with complains, not only Shop Your World fulfilled their promise by sending me the courier before 13^th of March but I also got a call from one of their developers Rahil Shah this morning reaffirming that their site is back on track.  

Though I feel, they shouldn’t have avoided the confrontation with the customers by deleting their FB/Twitter accounts, this harms a company’s reputation beyond repair, but as long as they are willing to serve us better I don't mind giving them a second chance. just ordered this one from SYW -

Another new entry in this field is junglee.com powered by amazon.com. Though we all were really excited to have amazon entering Indian market, the junglee.com initiative is as good as ordering stuff from amazon, because you still have to pay the exorbitant shipping and duties on your orders, haven’t tried them because of the same reason.

 Let me know about your favorite online shopping portals and do share your good/bad online shopping experiences.

Why This Kolaveri Di Over A Fan Art?

STATUTORY WARNING: The write up is quite long, but reading it wont be injurious to anyone’s health.

A few days back, I left my copy of Kirigi Ka Qeher (one of my most favorite comic book titles for past two decades) with Saumin to scan it for Chitrakatha. Unsuspecting Saumin was curiously flipping through pages one night and this comic played exactly the same role that mythical radio-active spider had played in Peter Parker’s life some five decades ago. Before he would realize, Saumin was entangled in the rollercoaster ride of a lifetime called Kirigi Ka Qeher.

Swashbuckling action, epic scale fantasy and one of the ‘tightest’ stories narrated in the history of sequential art – Kirigi Ka Qeher inspired Saumin to do his own version of Super Commando Druve (Yes… yes… I know its Dhruv but Patel calls him Druve).

That very night, not only Saumin drew his own version of the character (as a fan art of course) the daring man also decided to share it with his friends, fans and followers on Facebook and trust me we all loved this new version (with minor inputs dropping in from everywhere). Saumin’s daring act of re-designing one of India’s most favorite Superhero was backed by the most daring and open minded publisher Mr.Sanjay Gupta, who shared it with the (hardcore) Raj Comics fans on the Raj Comics FB page and as they say – all hell broke loose.

While a little fraction of fans was cool with this ‘fan art’ others seemed really offended with this version (may be they were simply scared that Raj Comics is planning a SCD reboot and a costume change ALA DC’s infamous Wonderwoman Costume Reboot). Though this fan art saw a hearty support from the artist community but as its always expected “Fans are a super-irked unforgiving lot, so this new look was able to strike terror/a ting of hatred into their hearts”.

Someone called it a Manga Ripoff, some called it Ben-10 just because of a Cargo-trouser, someone compared the cargo pants to a Dhoti and was obnoxious enough to write a back-story based in a village to mock the look. Looking at the outrage, it made me rethink why fans got so put off with a ‘fan art’. Its more or less the same thing that we all have done as kids after reading a comic book –  getting inspired and try to scribble down our own version of it. No offence meant to any creator or any design that’s already been there. Knowing Saumin personally, I know he was simply kicked and this was his way of saying that the Comic was just awesmackin’ awesome.

Also, Saumin is a fan of X-Men series of movies and he has always appreciated the way they keep playing with the costumes in all their movies or spinoff titles, it was simply his way of trying out a new look for a Superhero, that he’d just discovered.

But there is more to it, X-Men franchise itself has many offshoots and spinoff series that have come out of the original source material so it becomes easier to revamp the look/costumes (out of which many have been ridiculed in the past). But other than X-Men have we seen any mainstream superhero/a superteam getting a brand new look? Even the most popular reboot The Ultimates didn’t see much of a jump in the costumes of lead players like Ironman, though Cap. America’s costume has been evolved a bit, but it hasn’t been that big a jump. Even in DC we’ve seen this happening with characters like Green Lantern etc. Costume evolution is a calculated risk with B-Level characters, who doesn’t have that big a fan following. But the publishers themselves stay away from doing such major changes with their flagship titles and whenever they tried that, sudden uproar of fans pushed them back to their roots.

Such new takes were ridiculed and rejected outright by the fans irrespective of the big names attached to the projects. One great example would be Tim Burton’s unmade Superman Lives with its Disco Superman Costume and the casting of Nicholas Cage, which has been a joke fodder for the fans for more than a decade now. Check out Tim Burton’s vision/costume/look for Superman here: 

Hardcore fans are disappointed again esp. after the ‘leaked’ Man Of Steel images started appearing online. Visionary Director Zack Snyder decided to remove Superman’s iconic red undies from his costume, and people feel that makes the man of steel appear a little ‘nude’ (I totally agree). While fans loved Snyder’s choice of campy costumes in Watchmen (not to be forgotten, Watchmen was based in the 1980s and that was the color pallete of those years, remember the early 1990s Batman films with cheesy colorful costumes?), they immensely dislike his choice of costume in The Man of Steel, lets hope he has a storyline to support his vision this time as well.

Now the Million $ question – Why it irks the fans, when they see their heroes in a new (rebooted) costume?

‘Please don’t kill my hero…’

Being a fanboy, I can totally understand this sentiment. I used to be a Bheriya fan, but as soon as a storyline was introduced in which Bheriya the Hero was divided into two entities – Kobi & Bheriya, it was the death of Bheriya as I knew him. I can’t even recall the number of hate mails I’d sent to Mr.Sanjay Gupta that summer. ‘You killed my hero’. The way I looked at his stories died with him, an entire series was suddenly meaningless, because they just changed the characters all of a sudden. I can go ranting about many such reboots or redesigning of characters that pushed me away from comics series I had been an ardent fan of. I have my sentiments attached to a hero and as soon as someone tries to change or tweak it in a way that renders the earlier stories outdated, I am going to DISLIKE it. Because no matter what the creator (artist/writer) had in mind, he just tried to push me out of my comfort zone by trying to tweak my hero/heroine. I know we have to renew the material to get fresh readers in, but that doesn’t mean we should toss away the sentiments of our existing readers. It can be achieved with new powerful stories. A DKR or a Year One can make me a Batman fan and I can always go back and read the classic Batman without even demanding a reboot in its design or stories. Today’s Raj Comics readers (many of them who were born after Mr. Anupam Sinha took over Nagraj) wont mind going back and trying to get a flavour of Late Mr.Mulick’s Nagraj. Why? Because even though Mr.Sinha changed Nagraj entirely he didn’t let the old mythology slip away and this is the blueprint that creators today have to follow and get fresh readers interested in these comic books. Though as a Publisher Raj Comics has changed the looks of Tiranga in the past and are coming out with two spinoff Nagraj series, but fans have been an unforgiving lot with these spinoffs and no matter what, you don’t wanna mess with the Fans.

I remember Quintin Tarentino’s interview in a special issue of Wizard, where he said, he doesn’t want to direct a Superhero film because he isn’t comfortable with fans’ expectations that comes with all the existing Superhero franchises, but he also added that, he would love to create his own superhero to make a movie with.

We can learn a lot from the smartass Tarentino. Fan favorite writer Mark Millar has learnt a lot from him. Rather than trying to reboot/redesign any ongoing series, Millar very smartly created his own universe with his own version of spinoffs. We are walking a thin line here, and we can learn a lot from Directors like Nolan and Jim Cameron who have tweaked the storylines a lot but never tried changing a costume.  

If you’ve read Cameron’s unmade Spiderman Scriptment, you will realize that even a badass director like Jim Cameron wouldn’t like to cross that thin line and face the wrath of hardcore fans. While Mr.Cameron himself says Spidey’s costume is goofy and wasn’t very keen on having Spidey’s webshooters from the comics (Cameron gave him the biological webshooters, that was later used by Raimi in all his films) but Cameron made sure that the webshooter from Spidey’s costume is still there and totally justified its presence (How? Check out the scriptment page with storyboards here.

Lesson learnt: You don’t mess with the superhero costumes and don’t piss off the fans even if your name happens to be James Cameron, and you are the hotshot director of T:2.

Another example would be Steven Spielberg who was really interested in doing a Superman movie once, but later refused the offer politely and moved on to direct Close Encounters, E.T. and Indiana Jones (creating his own Superhero). He came back to direct a film based on a comic book character much later with The Adventures of Tintin (2011), though he was developing it since as early as 1982. Despite being a totally enjoyable adventure extravaganza many Tintin fans have disliked Spielberg’s version of Tintin (While I started seeing Tintin in a new light post -  Spielbergian Tintin and have started finding it much more exciting). Though Spielberg took liberty with the story, he retained Tintin’s classic look intact. Why? Coz he wasn’t ready to face the Kolaveri of Tintin fans.

But then you might have to change the costume/look a bit to make your hero work in some other medium like Animation or Movies, may be fans might be a little more forgiving when they see these little changes in animation or a film. Personally speaking I would love to tweak/rewrite a lot of characters, but I would rather do that in my Universe with my own characters and earn some new fans. 

Chitrakatha in The Sunday Guardian

Another brlliant story on our Documentary Film: Chitrakatha appeared in last Sunday's The Sunday Guardian. Click on the image for a hi-res version and let me know how did you like it?

Chitrakatha: 10 minutes Rough Cut

A 10 minutes rough preview cut from our documentary Chitrakatha



Feel free to share on your pages/profiles/blogs. And let us know what do you think about it.

-Alok

The write up for Dainik Bhaskar

Being brought up in Central India, I remember starting my mornings with DAINIK BHASKAR, one of the most circulated Hindi Dailies in India. And after so many years, when I was asked by an Editor friend to write a Sunday Special News Feature on Lifestyle for Dainik Bhaskar's front page - I couldn't resist the offer and here's the piece that appeared in more than 60+ Editions of Dainik Bhaskar all over India. Trust me, it gives a high to see your name and write up appearing on the first page of a news paper you've grown up with. Click on the image to read the write up:

My Documentary Chitrakatha featured in FHM July 2001 Issue

I remember hiding issues of FHM from my parents as it always used to feature scantily clad girls. Thankfully the Indian edition of the magazine is a bit considerate when it comes to such things (besides our starlets don't really believe in exposing for the Desi version that much). But this month came with a FHM Flaunting moment for me - FHM India featured a one page article on my Documentary Chitrakatha, for those who are unaware about the project can catch up with us on our Facebook page.

Meanwhile, enjoy the article here, click on the image for a readable size.

Love U...Mr. Kalakaar

I was associated with Rajshri Production's latest release Love U Mr. Kalakaar as an Art Consultant/ Cartoon Artist. Tusshar Kapoor plays a cartoonist in the movie, and I provided all the cartoons that were there in the movie.

I was asked by Mr.Triambak Sharma, Editor Cartoon Watch to do a small write up on my experience about the movie sometime back. The write up appeared in the latest issue of the magazine.

Here it goes:

त्र्यम्बक भैय्या ने जब मुझे जब अपने लव यू मि. कलाकार को ले कर हुए अनुभव के बारे में लिखने को कहा तो मुझे सोचते हुए कुंग फु पांडा के कछुआ मास्टर उगवे की वो लाइन याद आई जिसमें वो कहते हैं One Often Meets His Destiny On The Road He Takes To Avoid It ! कई बार आपका प्रारब्ध आपको उस राह में मिलता है जो आपने उससे बचने के लिए ली होती है. हालांकि मुझे कार्टूनिंग से हमेशा एक लगाव रहा है और मैंने अपने कार्टूनिंग जीवन की शुरुआत कार्टून वाच के साथ १९९७ में की थी पर एक समय के बाद मैं प्रोफेशनल कार्टूनिंग से ऊब चुका था, और वैसे भी मुझे पोलिटिकल या सोशल कार्टूनिंग से ज्यादा लगाव कॉमिक कार्टूनिंग से रहा है. एक लम्बे अरसे तक गोथम कॉमिक्स, बंगलोर में काम करते करते अचानक एक दिन मन कार्टूनिंग से ऐसा उचटा कि मैंने अपने ब्रुश और इंक को एक बक्से में पैक किया और निकल पड़ा कुछ अलग करने...मैंने कार्टूनिंग छोड़ दी थी पर कार्टूनिंग ने मेरा पीछा नहीं छोड़ा. रेडियो करते समय मैं यदा कदा अपने स्टेशन के Ads लिए कुछ कार्टून्स बना दिया करता था, कभी किसी दोस्त की Ad Agencies के लिए कार्टून्स बनाता था तो कभी अपने खुद के जॉब एप्लीकेशन को कार्टूनी रंग में रंग देता था...प्रोफेशनल कार्टूनिंग से दूर रह कर भी कार्टूनिंग बदस्तूर जारी थी हाँ मैंने खुद को कार्टूनिस्ट कहना बंद कर दिया था. ऐसे में मुंबई आने पर जब मेरी मुलाकात मनस्वी भाई से हुई तो मैंने कभी सोचा भी नहीं था एक दिन वो मुझे वापस घसीट कर ड्राईंग बोर्ड तक ले आयेंगे.
मैंने उनको अपने कुछ पुराने कार्टून्स दिखाए जो कि उनको बड़े पसंद आये बाद में जैसा कि महानगरों में होता है वो अपने काम में रम गए और मैं अपने काम में. कार्टूनिंग अब तकरीबन बिलकुल बंद थी पर हाँ डिस्नी टीवी के लिए काम करते हुए फिर ऐसा कुछ काम आया जिसके लिए ज़रूरत हुई किसी कार्टून डिज़ाईनर की और मैंने एक बार फिर दो चार कार्टून बनाये और डिस्नी छोड़ कर निकल गया पुणे बिग एनीमेशन...जहां मेरे चारों और इतने ज़बरदस्त कार्टूनिस्ट थे कि मुझे कभी कुछ भी draw करने ज़रूरत ही महसूस नहीं हुई, फिर भी मैं शौकिया तौर पर एक रोज़ एक Wacom Tablet खरीद लाया कि चलो कभी ज़िन्दगी में वक़्त मिला तो एक बार फिर कार्टून बनायेंगे. मगर न वक़्त मिला न कार्टून बने बेचारी टेबलेट टेबल पर रखी धूल खाती रही और मैंने तो तब तक शर्मसार हो कर खुद को कार्टूनिस्ट कहना भी बंद कर डाला था. अब हम एनीमेशन राईटर और assistant preproduction director थे...ऐसे में एक रोज़ मन को कुछ ऐसी खुरापात चढ़ी कि हमने अपनी जॉब से इस्तीफ़ा दे दिया ये सोच कर कि कुछ अलग करना है अब. इस बीच मनस्वी भाई से एक दो बार फोन पर बात हुई थी और उन्होंने कहा था कि अगली बार मुंबई आये तो मिलना मुझसे एक बार...अब तो वैसे भी हम थे बेरोजगार तो मनस्वी भाई से मिलने के प्लान के साथ साथ वापस ज़रा कार्टूनिंग करने का भी प्लान बनाया और बस मस्ती में आ के हमने अपनी नयी tablet पर कुछ स्केच कर डाले और उन्हें पोस्ट कर दिया फेसबुक पर, अब इसे संयोग कहिये या विधि का विधान उसी रोज़ पहले उस कार्टून पर मनस्वी भाई ने एक कमेन्ट किया और फिर उनका फ़ोन आ गया और उन्होंने मुझे मिलने बुलाया राजश्री के ऑफिस. राजश्री फिल्म्स?? मुझे अपने कानों पर यकीन नहीं हुआ कि आखिर ये हो क्या रहा है. बस आनन फानन में मनस्वी भाई से मुलाकात की तो पता चला कि वो राजश्री के लिए एक फिल्म डायरेक्ट करनेवाले हैं जिसमें उनका हीरो एक कार्टूनिस्ट है, एक सीधी सच्ची कहानी थी उनकी और बस वो सुनते ही मैं एक बार फिर वापस लौट आया था कार्टूनिंग की ओर.
मेरी एक मुलाक़ात कराई गयी राजकुमार बडजात्या जी से जो फिल्म के निर्माता और राजश्री के सर्वेसर्वा हैं. राज जी से हुई मुलाक़ात मैं भूल नहीं सकता उन्होंने कुछ ही मिनटों में मेरी पूरी जानकारी ले ली ये ही नहीं उन्होंने मुझसे उन सारे शहरों के छविग्रहों का भी विस्तृत हाल ले लिया जिन शहरों में मेरा आना जाना रहा है...उनको ना सिर्फ हर छोटे बड़े शहर की हर टॉकीज़ का नाम याद था बल्कि उन्हें वहाँ चल रही फिल्मों तक की जानकारी थी...ऐसे sharp लोग आपको कभी कभी ही मिलते हैं और मेरे लिए ये मुलाक़ात अविस्मर्णीय इसलिए भी रहेगी कि उड़ीसा के जिस छोटे से गाँव में मेरा जन्म हुआ है, जिसकी जानकारी मुझे लोगों को बहुत सारा भूगोल समझा कर देनी पड़ती है राज जी ने उसका नाम सुनते ही आस पास के कई और छोटे गाँव के नाम मुझे गिना दिए साथ ही मुझे ये हिदायत भी मिली कि हालांकि उनका हीरो कार्टूनिस्ट है पर वो एक सीधा सच्चा इंसान है इसलिए उसके कार्टून्स किसी कि हंसी उड़ाने के लिए नहीं होंगे ना ही वो किसी के नैन - नक्श बिगाड़ेगा, आपके सारे कार्टून्स प्यारे और सबको गुदगुदानेवाले हो व्यंग्यात्मक या कटाक्षवाले बिलकुल ना हो. उन्होंने बासु chatterjee का उदाहरण देते हुए मुझे बताया कि बासु द खुद एक कार्टूनिस्ट थे और उन्होंने राजश्री के लिए काफी फिल्में बनाई हैं और उनकी सारी फिल्मों का बेस होता था सीधा सरल हास्य और मेरे कार्टून्स में वो नज़र आना चाहिए.
उनसे मिल कर मैं जैसे ही बाहर निकला मनस्वी भाई ने मेरी मुलाक़ात सूरज बडजात्या जी से करवाई और जैसे ही सूरज जी अपने ऑफिस में घुसे... मनस्वी भाई ने मेरी टांग खींचते हुए कहा राजश्री में कोई तेरी तरह हाफ चड्डी में नहीं आता...मैंने हाफ पेंट पहनी हुई थी...और इसके बाद मैं जितनी बार राजश्री पहुंचा शायद मैं हर बार हाफपेंट ही पहने हुए था...क्योंकि जब एक बार गलती से मैं जींस पहने हुए ऑफिस पहुँच गया तो कुछ लोगों ने मुझे रोक कर पूछ लिया कि आज क्या कुछ ख़ास बात है? आप पूरे कपड़ों में हैं.

अब तक मनस्वी भाई की ब्रीफ के हिसाब से मैंने कार्टून बनाने शुरू कर दिए थे, और अखबारों के लिए कार्टून बनाने और फिल्म के लिए कार्टून बनाने में जो फर्क होते हैं वो मैं समझने लगा था - जो स्ट्रोक्स चित्र के छोटे होने पर उसकी खूबसूरती बढ़ा सकते हैं वो फिल्म के सेट में दीवारों पर अगर सही ना लगे तो पूरा लुक गड़बड़ हो सकता है.
मनस्वी भाई ने फिल्म के कार्टूनिस्ट हीरो साहिल के घर कि एक कल्पना की थी कि वहाँ हर दीवार पर कार्टून होंगे - मुझे सेट का नक्षा दे दिया गया और दीवारों के डाईमेंशन को ध्यान में रख कर मैंने कार्टून बनाने शुरू कर दिए और ये कार्टून करते करते मुझे ध्यान में आया वो कार्टून जो मैंने भिलाई में रहते हुए अपने दोस्त बंटी की लाईब्ररी में बनाया था - उसकी लाईब्रेरी के एक प्लग पॉइंट में कर्रेंट आ जाया करता था लोगो को उससे दूर रखने के लिए मैंने उस प्लग पॉइंट के सामने एक बिजली का झटका खाते इंसान का कार्टून बनाया था बस वोही कार्टून मैंने साहिल के घर के लिए भी बना दिया - ये कार्टून सूरज जी को भी बड़ा पसंद आया और ये कार्टून फिल्म में भी कई बार नज़र आता है.

कहानी में ट्विस्ट तब आया जब हम सेट पर पहुंचे - अब सेट नक़्शे से काफी अलग हो चुका था और सेट के लिए बनाये मेरे कुछ कार्टून यहाँ इस्तेमाल नहीं हो सकते थे...शूट बड़ी जल्दी शुरू होनी थी और वक़्त था बहुत कम...ऐसे में जब सेट के एक हिस्से में एक बड़ी अलमारी रखी गयी और उसके ऊपर के खाली हिस्से के लिए मुझे कार्टून बनाने को कहा गया तो एक मिनट के लिए मैं सोच में पड़ गया की उतने ऊपर क्या बनाया जाए और अचानक ख्याल आया कि इतने ऊपर तो एक ही इंसान बैठ सकता है - साम्भा! बस मैंने तुरंत स्व. मैक मोहन का एक केरीकेचर किया और उसे वहाँ बिठा दिया.
सबको ये आईडिया मजेदार लगा. जब बात आई सेट पर ये कार्टून्स पैंट करवाने की तो ये मेरे लिए ज़रा दुविधा भरा काम था, ड्राईंग बोर्ड पर कार्टून बनाना एक बात है और दीवारों पर उसे पैंट करना अलग. खैर आर्ट डायरेक्टर ने मुझे दो पेंटर्स दिलाये जो मेरे कार्टून्स उन दीवारों पर पेंट करेंगे, मैंने राहत की सांस कुछ जल्दी ले ली थी क्योंकि इन पैन्टेर्स को कार्टून समझाने के अलावा ये भी समझाना पड़ता था की कुछ लाईनों को उन्हें सिर्फ कॉपी ही नहीं करना ये भी समझना है कि वो वहाँ हैं किसलिए खैर ये पूरा काम निपटने के बाद अगले बाकी कार्टून्स मुझे घर पर ही बनाने थे. और एक एक करके साहिल की पोर्टफोलियो स्केचबुक (जिसमें काफी कार्टून्स मेरे अपने पोर्टफोलियो के थे), उसका विजिटिंग कार्ड, ऑफिस कार्टून्स, फैक्ट्री में इस्तेमाल होने वाले सेफ्टी कार्टून्स, साहिल की कॉमिक स्ट्रिप वगैरह सैकड़ों कार्टून्स मैंने बनाये - मैं एक बार फिर पूर्णकालिक कार्टूनिस्ट बन गया था...साथ ही फिल्म के स्पेशल एफ्फेक्ट्स के लिए भी मैंने थोड़ी storyboarding की जो अपने आप में काफी मजेदार सा अनुभव था. इन कार्टून्स को करते वक़्त ये ध्यान देना भी ज़रूरी था की इनमें से कई कार्टून फिल्म में एक सेकंड से भी कम समय के लिए नज़र आनेवाले थे, इसलिए उनको बिलकुल सिम्पल रखना ज़रूरी था मगर चेलेंज ये था की सिम्पल होने के बाद भी उनमें कुछ ऐसा हो जो लोगों को याद रह जाए...साथ ही हर कार्टून में साहिल का सीधा सादा केरेक्टर नज़र आये... सबसे ज्यादा मुश्किल था अमृता राव के स्केच बनाना क्योंकि ज़रा सी भी गड़बड़ से उनका चेहरा बिगड़ सकता था पर किसी तरह कई ऑप्शन स्केच करने के बाद हमने उनमें से कुछ एक को चुना...और जो ऑप्शन हमने चुने थे मुझे उनके कुछ वर्क इन प्रोग्रेस ऑप्शन बनाने थे ताकि हम साहिल को वो चित्र स्टेप बाई स्टेप बनाते हुए दिखा सकें...ऐसे ही फिल्म के पोस्टर और मार्केटिंग के लिए भी मैंने कई पॉकेट कार्टून और कार्टून स्ट्रिप्स बनाई पर अब मैंने अपने कार्टून्स में ज़रा सी डिटेल डालने के लिए मुक्त था क्योंकि ये कार्टून प्रिंट में इस्तेमाल होनेवाले थे.

खैर फिल्म पूरी होते ही मनस्वी भाई ने मुझे उसके प्रीव्यू के लिए इनवाईट भेजा और मैं पापा जी को ले कर फिल्म देखने पहुंचा. उनको फिल्म इतनी ज्यादा पसंद आई कि वो अब तक इसे दो - तीन बार देख चुके हैं और मज़े की बात ये है कि अब तक उन्होंने मेरे कार्टूनों के बारे में कुछ भी नहीं कहा है हालांकि फिल्म के डाईलोगस के बारे में वो एक लम्बा ब्लॉग लिख चुके हैं...फिल्म के एंड क्रेडिट में मेरा नाम देख कर उनके चेहरे पर जो ख़ुशी की लहर आई मेरे लिए पापा जी की वो ख़ुशी ही इस फिल्म के लिए मेरा सच्चा पारिश्रमिक है - और इस पारिश्रमिक पर कोई टैक्स डिडक्शन नहीं होनेवाला... इसके बाद दूसरी बार ख़ुशी हुई स्क्रीन Magazine में लव यु मी.कलाकार की समीक्षा पढ़ते वक़्त जिसकी आखिरी लाइन में लिखा था - Cartoons shown in the film are excellent.

ना चाहते हुए भी राह में मेरी मुलाक़ात उससे हो ही गयी जिसे मैं इतने समय से टालता आया था - कार्टूनिंग! और इस कहानी का अंत भी मैं मास्टर उगवे के कथन से ही करना चाहूँगा - There are no accidents! न मेरा कार्टूनिंग छोड़ना कोई एक्सीडेंट था न वापस आना, कुछ चीज़ें बस आपको करनी पड़ती है और शायद मेरे लिए वो 'कुछ चीज़' है...कार्टूनिंग.

Some cartoons from Love U...Mr.Kalakaar

Chitrakatha Teasers

Guys,

Finally Chitrakatha is taking its baby steps towards completion, and here are a few teasers that we released on our facebook page - Would love to get your feedback:

-Alok

The Reflectors of life

There is this strange resemblance between created reality and real life. (By 'Created reality' here, I mean any form of make believe story telling – a simple story narration, a comic book or lets go for a better example – Film shooting. If you are present at the location of a shoot then no amount of post production can change your perception of how the actual location looked like and the number of wires and Reflectors s kept haphazardly here and there. If you have experienced it first hand the set will remain a set for you and even though you will be seeing the most beautiful take aptly edited on the screen, the memory of numerous other wrong takes will dominate your mind. Enjoying the final scene becomes a difficult task after that. Its difficult to cut away from the memories and let go of them to enjoy the final cut. Personally, I simply love the procedure of making something because the end product – well... we all know it is a mere amalgamation of everything that was worth making it to the cut.

Likewise, real life memories also operate on more or less the same rule. An incident from your life (narrated in any form) will look like a final cut on the screen to me and it will be enjoyable as if its a fictional account of your past, on the other hand you while narrating it are actually hitting a refresh button in your memory and seeing that scene again – with all its wires and Reflectors s. Enjoyable for you or not? That I'll leave up to the genre of your memory – but for me it definitely was. Why? Because not only I was unaware of 'the Reflectors s' of your life – additional surroundings, your emotional/physical/at times financial state at that specific point in time but being not present at the 'moment' also makes me look at your memory at a macro level and enjoy the final cut of your story. Guess thats what makes a memoir fun to read, as a school boy, I remember reading Dale Carnegie's struggle and used to wonder how awesome his journey would've been – traveling in carriage trains, working in farms, going to a big city with big dreams and spending years of rejection before making it big. Yes it all sounds interesting because we will never be able to see the Reflectors s that were around him while he was going thru this classical hero's journey. That remains with the person who experienced it first hand.

At times when things are simply out of control and world starts looking like a gloomy stage do we try to cut-off these additional Reflectors s and those clumsy wires on the floor, those bad takes, those silly bloopers, just to come out of the set and start looking at the final cut? Because final cuts always show – Its not the failure but the final product that counts and in the end, everything falls in place.

Questions...

Well I don't think I should be blogging right now, because I still have one more write up to finish before I hit the sack, but why I am not doing that?? Why am I wasting my time writing a blog entry which I am sure not many will read... I really don't know... There are many things that we do but we don't know why we do them... and then there are things we know - we have to do! and no matter whether you want them or not you do them coz you ought to do them...well these are the things you do so that one day you might get to do what you *really* want to do... Sounds confusing, well the actual scenario is even more confusing...trust me - Quitting from my job some 18 months back was a risk that I had to take because I wanted to work on my documentary independently...

Independence like many other words is one really tricky word, you will never get to know what it *actually* means... everytime you want to get independent (or indie as they call it) you realize you have to buy your independence...and to buy it you have to earn and in order to earn you have to sell your independence... A vicious cycle I tell you... Is this really all worth it?? I don't know... but I am trying to find an answer...

I am still trying to figure out why I started writing this entry...and what were the thoughts that swarmed my mind when out of impulsion I just opened up the blog and just wrote down these lines...

Wish you all a very Happy Festive Season and a Super Duper New Year!

PS. I might try to come back and write a longer post soon...before this year ends...

एक मुट्ठी आसमान...और एक नॉन-कमर्शियल ब्रेक

यायावर की डायरी के पन्ने काफी वक़्त से खाली पड़े थे...कभी वक़्त नहीं था तो कभी हम नहीं थे...ग्वालियर से लौटे करीब एक हफ्ता होने को आया..और अचानक आज डिजीकैम देखा तो ये तस्वीर दिखी...जो वहाँ रहते हुए अपनी खिड़की के बाहर चहचहाती चिड़ियों की आवाज़ सुन कर खींची थी...
बड़े वक़्त के बाद धूप देखी थी...बड़े वक़्त के बाद सांझ के ढलते सूरज को देखा था और उसे देख कलाई पर बंधी घडी पर वक़्त देखने का ख्याल नहीं था...मन में ऐसा कुछ भी नहीं था जो कहने का मन था...बस कुछ देर वहीँ खड़े रह कर चिड़ियों को चहचहाते देखता रहा...आसमान रंग बदलता रहा और मैं एक अनजान शहर में हो कर भी इन चिर-परिचित नजारों में वो टटोलता रहा जो ना जाने कहाँ पीछे छूट गया है...आसमान की ऊंचाइयों को नापते सपनों के बीच अपरिचित सी परिचित ज़मीन पर थमें कदमों का ये नॉन-कमर्शियल ब्रेक भी सुकून दे जाता है कभी कभी...वरना तो हर कोई चाहता है एक मुट्ठी आसमान...

My interview in today's The New Indian Express

The New Indian Express ran a story-feature on our Documentary Chitrakatha. Click on the image for a better readable size.

मेरा शहर

1. मकान मेरे शहर के कभी 'घर' बन ही नहीं पाते,

खरीदते ही लोग Property Appreciation Calculate करने लगते हैं.

2. मकानों की दीवारें भी यहाँ हैं कुछ कच्ची सी,

बगल के कमरे में धड़कते दिल  की  धडकनें भी साफ़  सुनाई दे जाती हैं…

अलबत्ता दिल की दीवारें काफी मज़बूत बनवा ली हैं सबने…

3. आज फिर लीकेज है दीवारों पर, छत पर फिर कोई अकेला रो रहा है...

Paglaa

Last days in Pune

Abke Santa Christmas Mein : My Chhoti Si Wishlist for Christmas

Dear Santa,

I have been a good boy this year or at least I think so...Time for a payback...

Here's my Chhoti Si Wishlist for this Christmas:

• A Disney Sketchbook (Hardcover)

• .Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series: Story

• Walt Disney Animation Studios -- The Archive Series:Animation

• New MacBook Pro 17"
  

• Aur ek chhota sa Ghar! (Even if it has a couple of bedrooms lesser than KRK's Villa, I'll adjust).
  

Arre Haan, Oscars to main bhool hi gaya...koi naa next year Oscars bhi le lenge...

Updates!

I haven't been too active on Blog front for past few weeks. Neither active as a blogger nor as a reader. Reason, well there are plenty - I have been shuffling between Pune & Bom..err...Mumbai for more than a month now. I quit from my job to work on my documentary - Chitrakatha (which now has a dedicated Domain Name and hopefully will be having a dedicated website too along with the already running blog).

Chitrakatha again had to be put on hold for my house hunt in Mumbai. Hopefully I'll be finalizing a house soon and will be moving back to Mumbai.

Another big reason was my Reliance Data Card which has been generating some insane bills despite my limited usage, I fight with them, they disconnect it and I am forced to stay away from my blog.

As the day's approaching when we'll be bidding goodbye to Pune, I want to spend sometime in the city living the Puneri Life. I am definitely going to miss this house, rented hi sahi but this one was the bestest of them all.

I also took a deliberate break from reading comics and graphic novels for sometime and have started reading other books. Just finished reading two books by Argentinean author Guillermo Martinez: The Oxford Murders and The Book of Murder. The stories didn't appeal me that much, but his story telling skills were really commendable. Though I found the stories were not so gripping I would like to read more of his work, just to enjoy the narration, Martinez certainly is a master in that.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is another fun read, meant for teenagers but IMHO will be appreciated by the grown ups more.

Last but not the least, if you haven't joined the Chitrakatha Group on Facebook. Join the group and bring in all your friends, fans & followers. We will be having our 1st online contest on the Group soon!

   

Thoda Sa Relax Ho Jayein!

How to start writing when you have too many things to say, but don’t know how and where to start from? It happens when you come back home after a long journey, a journey where every single moment was so extra ordinary that you want to pour your heart out as soon as you reach home but when you reach, you are so overwhelmed and also, tired and saturated with all the thoughts that you can’t express things. Slowly its all forgotten or remains there somewhere in subconscious and comes out in fractions. It can also happen when you come back to your blog after a longtime and see you haven’t ‘actually’ blogged for sometime. Random updates don't count as Blogging, right? Now everything that you wanted to say is so jumbled up in your mind, that you can’t think of a thing in particular and start writing about it.

So I am planning to let my mind wander and write as it’s coming to me right now.

Congratulations Manna Da : I wanted to write when Manna Dey was honored with Dada Sahab Falke award last month. Manna Da is one of my most favorite singers and his songs have an aura of honesty because of his voice. His soothing voice has an assurance that the he understands you and your deep emotions. I always feel a deep connection to his voice and songs. I consider myself lucky, that my first professional Radio Assignment was a Manna Dey Special, a 3 hour long Manna Dey Interview for Musical-E-Aazam in December 2005. I not only got to meet the maestro after the show, but also discuss some of his non-filmy albums like Bachchan’s Madhushala composed by Ravi and rendered in his own voice. I also managed to get my Madhushala CD autographed.

I am sad to see how media which neglected the 90 year old genius until now, was hunting for his contact after the award was announced (I was still in touch with him and gave the contact to many a friends from media, who didn’t even know anything about him except Tu Pyar Ka Sagar Hai and Pyar Hua Iqraar Hua).

KANK: I just quit from my Job and cleaning my cupboard. There are bundle of papers, notes and research for the stories I was working on. Feels funny to see the chunk of work I did here in the past 18 odd months (my longest tenure with one job ever). I find it funny when people get emotional while cleaning up their desks in their last days in office. I often find it strange when people decorate their work desks like they’re going to be stuck with the same desk throughout their lives. Those nauseating big warm hugs to colleagues, Bye Bye, Tears, Last emotional mail sent to all and all that jazz… Kinda Vidaayi Scene! It was your office! Grow up! for crying out loud! Pardon me if I am getting too harsh! LOL!

What bring tears to me is the F***ing paper work: A Bigtime Headache, which I’ll be going through before the legendary full and final settlement with the company!

Finished reading The Oxford Murders by by the Argentine author Guillermo Martínez. The story is interesting although the climax was pretty predictable. For the first time I felt, Mathematics can also be intriguing. Damn mathematics teachers!

I am also, watching Heroes Season 3: Villains. I was disappointed with the Second Season, which in retrospect looks like a precursor to the third season. Jeph Loeb one of my most favorite Comics Writer who is also, one of the Co-Executive Producer of the show was recently fired by NBC because of some 'creative differences' & 'budget issues'. I am wondering if Tim Kring (the Producer) will be able to manage season 4 (Volume 5: REDEMPTION) of such a massive multi character show without him.

Comics I read!

It was a hectic week, which started with a lot of stress but everything eventually settled down or is settling down. My trustworthy laptop is at HP Service Center, hopefully I'll be getting it back by next week.

With laptop away and TV in possession of reality shows. I had no other option but to read. The Books I read last week:

Astroboy 3 : Osamu Tezuka (Dark Horse) Osamu Tezuka is called The Father of Manga. Despite being a huge fan of his work and his visual story telling, I avoided reading Astroboy for years, thinking of it as a kiddie stuff. While reading Pluto Series I was astonished to see Urasawa referring to the original Astroboy story - The Greatest Robot On Earth (1964-65) as one of the must read titles. After reading Pluto, I had to read this volume which has the original story and before I could finish the book I was an Astroboy Fan! Highly Recommended!

Pluto : Astro Boy 3 Comparison courtesy : Warren Peace

Scalped: Indian Country & Scalped: Casino Boogie : Jason Aaron (Writer) R.M.Guera (Illustrator) (Vertigo Comics)

Aaron's wonderful story telling also shows the amount of research went into the series and Guera's moody drawing style adds a new dimension to the story and once you start reading it, it kind of grows on you slowly (though there is an ongoing debate on how this series portrays (Red)Indians. The twists in the story, the flashbacks, the characterization everything is so cool that I am hooked to this title.

To The Heart of The Storm : Will Eisner (W.W.Norton & Co.)

Read any Eisner Graphic Novel and you'll understand why he is called The Leonardo of the comic-book form. To The Heart of The Storm is a story told in a series of flashbacks; another installment in Eisner's series of semi-autobiographical graphic novels told by the maestro in his inimitable style. IMHO this is Eisner's is simply one of his best work.

Last Day in Vietnam : Will Eisner (Dark Horse)

Frank Miller once said, "Eisner's the best. He can still kick all our butts." and he really mean it! Last Day in Vietnam contains 6 short stories based on Eisner's experience as a soldier (during the 2nd World War) and as a correspondent for P.S. Magazine (during the Vietnam War).

Mouse Guard Fall 1152 : David Peterson (Villard Books)

David Peterson's Mouse Guard is an Eisner award winning mini series. Brilliantly written and superbly drawn Mouse Guard is a story about an underground mouse civilization, their culture and some dark secrets. Second installment in the series Winter 1152 is in NYT Bestsellers list for more than 5 weeks.