After the makers of Ra.One and Baahubali, team Indrajith has come up with a comic book based on the film’s lead character, played by Gautham Karthik. According to Vijay Ashokan of VA Studios, the man behind this initiative, the idea was to take the story beyond films. “This is not just a marketing gimmick. We wanted to present the character on an alternative platform. Also, director Kalaprabhu is drawn to the creative possibilities hidden in the backstory,” he says.
After Kalaprabhu narrated a gist of the story to Vijay, it took two months for his staff to complete the comic book. “Many films in Hollywood are being promoted through comics. Here, we haven’t yet realised the potential fan base for comics. Filmmakers should also think of exploring other avenues to transport viewers to the world they create,” says Vijay.
An ardent fan of comics, Vijay says films that have a universal theme, and a good story, can work well as comics. “The excitement of the film will die after its release, but by continuing the story through comics, we can continually engage the community of fans,” he tells us.
Vijay, who grew up reading comics, feels they’re not appreciated as much by children these days. “They have more access to smartphones. Maybe they’re bored with the same old superhero stories; they need a change,” he laughs.
The Indrajith comic book has 36 pages. “Every page required at least six frames, and I gave Kalaprabhu as many as 16 suggestions. The biggest challenge was to complete this task on time. In the past few years, we’ve seen some extraordinary comic books, like Marvel Studio, The Dark Knight Returns and Thor:Ragnarok, getting adapted to the big screen. It’s time we picked up on this trend,” he signs off.