Pran Kumar Sharma – a name synonymous with Indian comics has successfully entertained generations worldwide in a career spanning five decades. The Father of Indian Comics, he left for his heavenly abode merely 10 days short of his 76th birthday. Survived by his wife Asha, son Nikhil, daughter-in-law Jyoti and daughter Shaily, the radiance left the eyes of the guiding light of the Indian comic industry as he succumbed to cancer at a hospital in Gurgaon.
The Dawn of a Legend
Born on August 15 in 1938, Pran saw India become liberated on his ninth birthday. The family moved from the hamlet of Kasur, now in Pakistan, to Gwalior in central India, during partition. Graduating in Political Science and subsequently completing a distance-learning program in Fine Arts from Sir JJ School of Arts, Mumbai, Pran began his cartoonist career for Delhi based newspaper Milap.
The Changing Face of Indian Comics
His opening comic strip Dabbu garnered good response, laying the foundation for the Chacha Chaudhary series that premiered in 1969, in the Hindi magazine Lotpot. Prior to Dabbu, the Indian Comic scene was merely a translation of Batman, Phantom and Superman. His later works include Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo and Raman among others, the last of which was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi.
Chacha Chaudhary – India’s Very Own Venerable Genius
The lack of an Indian superhero was the primary reason for Pran to sketch the revered turbaned Chacha Chaudhary who amused impressionable children, gullible adolescents and retired sentries from the 70s till date. Pre-liberalised India found its own superhero in his main character who’s ‘brain works faster than a computer.’ Using his intelligence; rather than extraordinary superpowers and looks – the base of western comics, Chaudharyji overtook his counterparts like Spiderman, Batman and Superman. The wise old man of every family inspired Mr. Sharma to go off the beaten path and create a character without which future train journeys would be incomplete.
Rising Popularity
Published exclusively by Diamond Comics since 1981, this spectacular strip revolutionized the Indian youth and was, in 2002 featured as a teleserial with Raghuveer Yadav playing our favourite uncle. What’s more, Chacha Chaudhary, along with the brawny extraterrestrial Sabu, his dog Rakeet and nagging Chachi have found a permanent place in the International Museum of Cartoon Art, USA. Translated in more than 10 languages and having sold almost ten million copies worldwide, with online editions too, the popularity of Pran’s brainchild is phenomenal.
Pran has been fittingly given the title of ‘Walt Disney of India,’ in the World Encyclopedia of Comics. Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, he finds a mention in the Limca Book of World Records too.
The nation mourns the death of the man who brought smiles to a billion faces through his evergreen wit and humour. His passing is a mammoth impediment to the comic fraternity and a loss to Indian Literature too.
