Mythology’s ‘graphic’ reality

When you think of an Indian graphic novel, the first thing that is likely to strike your mind is mythology. From Liquid Studio’s Ramayana 3392 AD to Shekhar Kapur’s Devi to Hong Kong-based Fluid Friction’s DevaShard, inspired by the Indian Mahabharata, to the very latest Vimanika Comic’s The Legend of Karna, all seem to be harping on the rich mythology embedded within the Indian culture. There are many other graphic novels in the country which are not based on mythology. But then, are they so popular?

Indian mythology has been around for so long that it’s become very easy to sell anything that relates to it, believes Milee Ashwarya, commissioning editor, Random House India. “Mythology works very well in the visual medium with all age groups as it is already established successfully in the minds of the people. For a contemporary idea to work for a graphic novel, it really has to be out of the box,” she says.

Graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee’s two recent contemporary novels did well for him earn a good living. But he is not sure if it became that popular. He says, “There is much more to India than mythology. Every now and then we really don’t have to modernise Ram and Arjun in good looking avatars with no personalities. We tend to blame the west for mythologising India. But it is us who fail to realise the importance of our own comtemporary culture. It reflects in our movies as well.”

Liquid Comics deals with graphic novels which are both contemporary and mythological. Suresh Seetharaman, director at the company says, “The issue with most Indian graphic novels is that the two crucial elements — text and illustration — are many times not in sync with each other. Thus even a great idea fails to make an impact.”