Once upon a time in not long ago, we as children had not heard of TV, consoles or smartphones. Summer vacations, were spent mainly on games like pithoo(a ball game) with kids from the neighbourhood and Chacha Choudhary, Pinki, Billu and Raman 🙂
Who liked to reading school books when there’s a Chacha Chaudhary comic book around the corner. Who can forget that you could then exchange your rented comic book with other children. And if you were the extrovert enough there was a good chance of cracking a great deal! But all said and done this blast from the past comes in a time of great gloom for the Indian Comic Industry as Pran Kumar Sharma, creator of iconic comic book characters like Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu, died Tuesday night, his family said Wednesday. He was 75. Pran, as the catoonist was popularly known, was suffering from colon cancer and died at 9.30 p.m. Tuesday.
Simple yet Humorous, Chacha Chaudhary was simply addictive 🙂
Apart from the hugely popular Chacha Chaudhary, Pran also created other characters like Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo, Raman, and Chachi. Also known as the father of Indian comics, Pran created first indigenous cartoons strips in 1960. His stories had local themes and Indian characters.
It was this sense of belonging that made him a household name. Even prime minister Narendra Modi described him as “versatile cartoonist who brought smiles on the faces of people through his rich work”. Pran’s work spanned over five decades and his association with Diamond Publishers began in 1981, when its publisher Gulshan Rai offered him to start doing comic books with them.
While his death marked the end of an era, we believe his legacy will continue.
