BENGALURU: Indian mythology has always been mysterious and intriguing for many, including Vivek Ram. But in order to tell these stories in his style and skill, the city-based animation artist, who has been a part of Hollywood projects like Golden Compass and Penguins of Madagascar, started mythological comics on his Instagram page that explore Indian myths in 10 slides. With the city gearing up for Ganesh Chaturthi, there are no points for guessing what his next comic is going to be on.
Originally hailing from Pune, Ram says the festival has always been close to his heart. “I have lived in Pune and Mumbai, where the celebrations of this festival is a sight to behold. But for the last few years, I have been creating artworks or animations on Ganesha,” says Ram, who is planning to share two comic strips for the celebration.
The 39-year-old says the stories on Ganesha are always best for comics formats. “Ganesha stories are always about a problem and its solutions. It’s short and sweet,” laughs Ram, revealing that this year he is going to avoid the story on how Ganesha got his head, which has been “done to death”. Ram’s comics carry a monochrome tone in order to maintain the feel of the era the stories took place in. Previously, he has covered the stories of Ghatotkacha’s birth and Khandava forest.
Ram is the founder, or as he likes to call himself – the senapati – of Vaanarsena Studios. The Indian mythological comic series took off during the lockdown. “Our mythological stories are vast and layered with wisdom or knowledge at its core. In the comic format, I try to take out the extra layers and keep just the facts,” says Ram, whose comic strips are released every Wednesday. The artist has been surprised by the number of people the series has reached or by how many have volunteered to contribute to the strips. “Sometimes we have workshops for the volunteers and now they are taking over the whole idea,” adds Ram.