A modern take on a Bengali classic

Stir World interviewed artist Charbak Dipta, who's currently working on comics like Heshoram Hoshiyaar, based on a classic Bengali story, and developing a modern take on it in panel format:

Srishti Ojha: Can you tell me about your decision to adapt Sukumar Ray’s Heshoram Hoshiyaar into a comic book medium?

Charbak Dipta: Bengali kids like me have grown up reading this story. The story is 100 years old now, so I wanted to bring it back and present it in a new and colourful way for today’s kids. It’s only four or five pages long, but in that short text there are so many visual elements, including some illustrations and sketches from Ray. It was really fun to turn these few pages into a complete graphic novel.

Srishti: So much of your work—from Heshoram Hoshiyaar to Lublur Prithibi references visual art and literary works. What draws you to these references?

Charbak: I like to reference famous paintings and works in my comics, such as Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks (1942) in The World of Lublu or the movie Nayak (1966) by Satyajit Ray. This comic has a lot of Easter egg references scattered throughout as well.

I like this practice because kids can enjoy seeing the colourful illustrations and stories, but underneath there is a lot of philosophical thought and social and political references. When they grow up, they can understand the undercurrents and the subtext. I try to do this so that adults can also be attracted to the work, and I can cater to both generations with a single book. The World of Lublu and Heshoram Hoshiyaar are cross-generational books.

I think it's very clever and admirable to draw from literature and paintings for inspiration, and building on philosophy can also be a great idea. On the subject of political allusions, that can work provided it's in good taste.

Srishti: Often, adaptations for TV or film in animation or live action are considered the ‘next step’ for comic books and graphic novels. Now that you are experimenting with motion comics and 360° comics, would you be open to such adaptations?

Charbak: I don’t consider it a next step because comics themselves are a powerful medium. They don’t need support from other industries like animation or film. There have been offers which came to me for filming Lublu, etc., but they did not progress much. If someone approaches me, I’ll discuss it, but I’m not very keen on trying to get into film or animation.

Many people have asked me why I don’t try animation, VFX, gaming or these historic, constructed industries. There is no comic industry as such in India—it’s very fragmented and like a cottage industry.

I have stuck to this medium for over 10 years out of pure love for it. It’s not a stepping stone for me; it’s not the higher level; it is all the same.

While animation can be a far better venture than live action, Charbak is doing the right thing to stick with comicdom and not stray far from it. After all, we do need all the talented creators we can get to keep the medium going, even in foreign countries.

Srishti: In India especially, comics don’t enjoy the same support, funding or popularity as art forms like film and animation. What are your hopes for the Indian comic industry as it establishes itself domestically and nationally over the next few years?

Charbak: I think Indian comics should be more original rather than imitating existing Western graphic novels and comics. For example, Shakti Man and the Bengali comic Batul the Great, two of the most prominent Indian comics, are imitations of Superman and Desperate Dan (a British comic book), respectively. I hope Indian creators can explore more original themes and characters that suit Indian themes and Indian settings in the way Japan and Korea do with manga and anime, allowing them to export their culture to the world. We need more original comics to show the world what we have.

I think the support of the government, through funding and investment or a new national award for comics, can revolutionise the Indian comics landscape by encouraging Indian creators. Support from the media is also very important to grow the industry.

Publishers also need to take more risks. I went to English publishers working in India with The World of Lublu, and all of them rejected it. Then it got nominated for the Eisner, and now the conversations with English publishers are finalised. They should publish different, out-of-the-box subjects instead of the same old stories like biographies and adaptations of old classics. That’s how the industry can grow.

He's right, if anything, that sticking with local inspirations is far better than trying to imitate the western world in its current incarnations, certainly in the USA, where political correctness resulted in disasters, both artistic and financially. So I hope Charbak and other artists like him will find success in building up the comics industry in India more than it already is now, and one day elevate it to the status of Japan's. That could help tremendously.