I grew up reading Tinkle comics and other comics too, but having an Indian touch to it, Tinkle has made it's impact on me.That's not only true some 10 years back, it's also true till now.The publishers , actually the creators of tinkle are the famous Indian story compiling group called Amar Chitra Katha(in short we'll call it ACK).They are one of the famous and one of the old story tellers, with well known publications like the amar chitra katha and the tinkle monthly.They also have a long list of well known comic characters like Suppandi, kalia the crow, tantri, shambu,etc.,.And that's not all, their mission statement says that they intend to become one of the most favoured and top entertainment and educational media provider for the youth.In their mission statement, they have also mentioned about steps to make the experience more intriguing, encourage the children to bilateral thinking and improve their creativity.But I must say, there are fans ranging from kids to adults who would love to read a Tinkle.
Tinkle was one of the first nation wide comics for children and it was the first to give more than stories- comics, puzzles, quizzes, contest and other features in a unique mix targeted at school children.India book house owned the Tinkle but ACK bought the rights by 2007.And who was the editor-Anant Pai was the founding editor of the Tinkle,those who have read Tinkle must have seen some column dedicated to the general knowledge , by Uncle Pai, well that's the editor himself, with an alias.He was also the one behind the ACK.The history of Tinkle dates back to 1980s when the first edition of tinkle was printed.Also unlike other Indian comics, Tinkle boasts of certain character and columns, that never change with the changing issues.Only the stories and content of the column changes.hence one can say that Tinkle has been instrumental in helping school children across the country.As mentioned before, there are some characters of Tinkle, that when you say the name itself, people recognise the name of the magazine-Tinkle.The fame of tinkle is so much that it has even been read by people of fame, in their childhood,including our former Prime Minister Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Let's see about some of the famous characters that Tinkle still carries - one story that gives children an idea of good, bad, friendship etc is Kalia the Crow .This character is featured in the famous series "kalia the crow"( obvious isn't it!).The plot is most of the time, two friends(bad) - Chamataka and a crocodile-DoobDoob a loyal friend but somewhat stupid crocodile, together they try to capture and eat two rabits, and Kalia the crow outwits them all the time.Time and again, to avoid redundancy, other characters- a bear and an elephant are used in the plot.Sometimes to spice things up, a female companion of Kalia(I don't remember the name) is combined in the plot.Imagine- a crow, a fox, a crocodile and two rabbits(plus 3or 4 side characters) and this crew has captured readers for almost two decades with different stories!.
This next character we are talking about is a top priority celebrity among the Tinkle characters.It's Shikari Shambu!.He is usually portrayed as a very lazy yet, unusually lucky hunter, but the world around him assumes him to be brave and powerful hunter,who captures something at the end of the story always.He usually runs away from the dangerous animal, but due to the luck we mentioned earlier, he ends up capturing the animal, single handed.The amazing thing is this character is always portrayed with a hunter's hat, face half covered with the hat and only facial feature visible is his doodling moustach!Nothing else, yet he has fans all over the country.
To give an idea of how things go wrong, when you are thinking wrong, Tinlke has dedicated a character, that always ends up with disaster.Time and again, this character also uses modern day gadgets, while it's about a minister during the age of Kings.The character is noe other than Tantri the Mantri.He always tries to kill his King so that he can occupy the rule, but his plot always backfires.But relentlessly he has been coming up with new ways to bring down the king, for the last two decades!
Then the last, but (believe me!) not the least - Suppandi.This is a superstar of Tinkle.One of the very shortest series to be available in every issue, Suppandi is a character that is about a rather stupid boy who usually does the reasoning in the wrong way and ends up creating a hilarious disaster.
This character, made it's first appearance in 1983, January issue.This was not originally created by the minds in Tinkle studio, but it was created due to a reader - narrative stories about a stupid boy ,sent by P.Varadarajan from Chennai.The artist who brought Suppandi to life is, Ram Waeerkar.He was drawing the character, till 2003 , after which it is now being taken care his daughter, Archana Amberkar.More than a fool, the readers would agree that he is just any other common man, but he is more a simpleton.Since the inception of the character, it has received nation wide accolades, initially, Tinkle recieved many posts from fans relating to Suppandi and the editors realised that this simpleton with the funny rectangular head is going to stay for very long.And yes, the character still is the top among Tinkle characters, the character is loved by children's, teenagers, and adults.
That brings us to the topic at hand- from 2D to 3D.The famous character, Suppandi is making a big leap to the film!.Yes the favourite character of all times is making his debut in the cinema.But not just any other film, but a 3D film!.Indian animation industry is yet to give a good film, that is accepted and loved by all but this film will change that I think.Also the 3D element, has not yet been experimented with, in Indian Film industry much.But some animation films, from international studios have already made their way into the 3D world.Hope Suppandi will show the world, we've our own comic characters that have captured minds nearly for three decades.The film is set for release in November 2010.