If you know anything about Indian comics then the name Pran will be familiar to you. You will also know what this means for Indian and Bangladeshi comics. Pran was THE super star of comics and created a wealth of characters that will no doubt live on.
For those who have no idea here are two death notices published today.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Pran Kumar Sharma, creator of iconic comic book characters like Chacha
Chaudhary and Sabu, is dead. He was 75, his family said Wednesday.
Better known as Pran, he was suffering from colon cancer and died at 9.30 p.m. Tuesday, his daughter-in-law Jyoti Pran said.
"His condition was extremely critical in the last 15-20 days and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gurgaon," she said.
His cremation will take place in Punjabi Bagh at 2.30 p.m.
He is survived by his wife Asha, son Nikhil Pran and daughter Shaily Pran.
Pran is also the creator of other characters like Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo, Raman, and Chachi.
Born in Kasur near Lahore, he began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for a Delhi-based newspaper. He had created the character of Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine "Lotpot".
He had also received a Lifetime Achievement Award 2001 from Indian Institute of Cartoonists and he was included in list of "People of the year 1995" by Limca Book of Records for popularising comics in India.
And FirstPost.com:
Cartoonist Pran, the creator of the iconic Indian comic book character Chacha Chaudhary, died today in New Delhi. He was 75 years old.
Pran Kumar Sharma, according the website www.chachachaudhary.com, was the first Indian artist-writer to come up with comic books whose protagonists were characters rooted deep in Indian rural and middle class ethos. His most popular creation was of course Chacha Chaudhary, a short, frail-looking man in a huge red pagdi, who fought everyone from thugs to pretty crooks with elan. He had for company a giant man called Saboo, apparently from Jupiter.
Chacha Chaudhary, created in 1971, was a landmark work given how it fused sci-fi, filmy action and Indian middle class oddities, to offer a wholesome entertainer for people across ages.
Pran was born in Kasur near Lahore, in undivided India. He completed his bachelors degree in political science from Gwalior. He then went on to study art in the JJ School of Art in Mumbai, but left the course midway.
He began working as a cartoonist in 1960 in Indian dailies.
Pran's body of work includes other comics like Billoo, Pinki, Raman, Shrimatiji. He later created a separate series of comics on Saboo, Chacha Chaudhary's assistant.
All his characters had one thing in common. They were superheroes in their own small ways - while Billoo was an insufferably naughty boy, he was extremely sharp and could wriggle out of any soup he was in. Pinki, another of Pran's character, was again a small girl, who was extremely brave and ready to take up challenges. Chaudhary, famously, was said to have a brain 'which worked faster than a computer'.
Pran's superheroes were complete antithetical to the construct of the superhero popularised by say a Marvel Comics in the West. Most of Pran's characters did not possess any super-powers - they were average humans who used their brains well. Chaudhary's superheroes, essentially, were ideal human beings and looked and sounded like any of us. No wonder then, they were household names and were loved by generations of comic book lovers in India.
Later, several of Pran's works were animated, turned into cartoon films etc. However, his works still draw sustenance from the comic book format and is hugely popular among the middle classes.
The Chacha Chaudhary website says about Pran, "He travelled widely over the globe including countries like America, England, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, China, S.Korea etc he delivered speeches to the gatherings of cartoonists on the subject wherever he went."
Pran, the website quotes, had said, "If I could put a smile on the face of people, I would consider my life successful."
Chances are he will continue being a success, long after he is gone.
Tempus fugit
For those who have no idea here are two death notices published today.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Cartoonist Pran, creator of Chacha Chaudhary, dies at 75
IndiaToday.in
New Delhi
Pran
was included in People of the year 1995 by Limca Book of Records for
popularizing comics in India. (Photo: www.animationxpress.com)
Better known as Pran, he was suffering from colon cancer and died at 9.30 p.m. Tuesday, his daughter-in-law Jyoti Pran said.
"His condition was extremely critical in the last 15-20 days and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Gurgaon," she said.
His cremation will take place in Punjabi Bagh at 2.30 p.m.
He is survived by his wife Asha, son Nikhil Pran and daughter Shaily Pran.
Pran is also the creator of other characters like Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo, Raman, and Chachi.
Born in Kasur near Lahore, he began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for a Delhi-based newspaper. He had created the character of Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine "Lotpot".
He had also received a Lifetime Achievement Award 2001 from Indian Institute of Cartoonists and he was included in list of "People of the year 1995" by Limca Book of Records for popularising comics in India.
And FirstPost.com:
Cartoonist Pran, the creator of the iconic Indian comic book character Chacha Chaudhary, died today in New Delhi. He was 75 years old.
Pran Kumar Sharma, according the website www.chachachaudhary.com, was the first Indian artist-writer to come up with comic books whose protagonists were characters rooted deep in Indian rural and middle class ethos. His most popular creation was of course Chacha Chaudhary, a short, frail-looking man in a huge red pagdi, who fought everyone from thugs to pretty crooks with elan. He had for company a giant man called Saboo, apparently from Jupiter.
Chacha Chaudhary, created in 1971, was a landmark work given how it fused sci-fi, filmy action and Indian middle class oddities, to offer a wholesome entertainer for people across ages.
Pran was born in Kasur near Lahore, in undivided India. He completed his bachelors degree in political science from Gwalior. He then went on to study art in the JJ School of Art in Mumbai, but left the course midway.
Pran's body of work includes other comics like Billoo, Pinki, Raman, Shrimatiji. He later created a separate series of comics on Saboo, Chacha Chaudhary's assistant.
All his characters had one thing in common. They were superheroes in their own small ways - while Billoo was an insufferably naughty boy, he was extremely sharp and could wriggle out of any soup he was in. Pinki, another of Pran's character, was again a small girl, who was extremely brave and ready to take up challenges. Chaudhary, famously, was said to have a brain 'which worked faster than a computer'.
Pran's superheroes were complete antithetical to the construct of the superhero popularised by say a Marvel Comics in the West. Most of Pran's characters did not possess any super-powers - they were average humans who used their brains well. Chaudhary's superheroes, essentially, were ideal human beings and looked and sounded like any of us. No wonder then, they were household names and were loved by generations of comic book lovers in India.
Later, several of Pran's works were animated, turned into cartoon films etc. However, his works still draw sustenance from the comic book format and is hugely popular among the middle classes.
The Chacha Chaudhary website says about Pran, "He travelled widely over the globe including countries like America, England, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, China, S.Korea etc he delivered speeches to the gatherings of cartoonists on the subject wherever he went."
Pran, the website quotes, had said, "If I could put a smile on the face of people, I would consider my life successful."
Chances are he will continue being a success, long after he is gone.
I wish I'd know this man's work while he was alive. The stories seem very similar to the old style William Ward work for Disney. Full of warmth and humanity, with a sly sense of humour and a beautifully comic art style. It's a pity this kind of work, fusing myth/legend, history and current life, didn't become popular instead of the often vaccuous manga that Japan churns out. Pran was a comics genius on a par with Herge or the creators of Asterix the Gaul. Another loss.
ReplyDeleteIts a very simplistic style BUT Pran was THE super star of Indian comics and unlike comic creators in the UK, he got a lot of credit and honours from India officially.
ReplyDelete