The latest blockbuster song What Jhumka from Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani is a reboot of Jhumka Gira Re from the 1966 film Mera Saya. A blend of nostalgia and improvisation is what makes a remixed song a hit. It seems this formula doesn’t just work for music but also for comic series and cartoon strips. Take, for example, India’s most loved comic book characters, Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu. Created by pioneer cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma, this feisty pair was first featured in 1971 in Lotpot, a bilingual children’s magazine. That was when a young Narendra Kumar Verma, current chairperson of Diamond Group of Publications, contacted Pran and persuaded him to republish the series under a new packaging. Promoted through a 360-degree campaign on billboards, radio, and television, the new Chacha Chaudhary version soon became the first-ever Indian cartoon character that attained cult status.
The story of this sticky brand called Diamond Comics actually began in 1907. Gela Ram, a librarian who owned Bhartiya Bhandar Pustakalya in modern-day Pakistan ran a business selling copies of well-known Indian mythologies and religious scriptures. During Partition, Gela Ram and his son Govind Ram moved to Delhi and set up another enterprise called Punjabi Pustak Bhandar on Asaf Ali Road in Daryaganj. “In this second phase, we also sold a lot of Western stories and characters like Mandrake, Phantom, Flash, Jordan, He-Man, and Superman in thin books of one rupee each,” says Verma.
But foreign characters and stories weren’t good enough for a young and enthusiastic Verma. It was his dream to create original Indian characters and stories — it inspired him to search for new formats, experiment with novel ideas, and collaborate with established comic book writers of the time. “We were not just sellers of books – there was a kahanikar or storyteller in us who wanted to tell delightful stories from the Indian milieu. Saaf suthri kahaniyan, saral bhasha (simple stories in easy language) were at the heart of our series like Mama Bhanja, Chacha Bhatija, Rajan Iqbal, Lambu Motu, Tauji, Ankur, and many more. It was a world that every Indian child identified with,” says Verma.
Also read: Triveni Kala Sangam is Delhi’s art address. It saw stars struggle—Shah Rukh Khan to…
Getting Pran on board
All pioneers hit roadblocks when they tread new paths and struggle with challenges. It happened with Diamond Comics founders too. Their foray into creating fresh content struggled at first because children did not take to single-colour comics. Creating a four-colour spread — the basic palette used in printing comics at the time — was exorbitantly expensive. Therefore, Diamond Comics began to experiment with various printing formats, including smaller printouts to make production budgets viable. This experiment inspired them to come up with their small, postcard-sized magazines, and later, even pocketbook-sized productions.
In the early 1970s, Lotpot was the queen of children’s magazines. Verma was keen to get a piece of this pie. “The owner of Lotpot, Pramod Batra, was my college friend. I asked him if I could use his old content. He said, ‘It’s fine with me, but you need to persuade Pran Kumar Sharma – the cartoonist who co-owns the rights to the content.’ That was tricky,” says Verma, diving into the memory pool.
Pran lived in Naraina — away from the buzz of Delhi — and was a difficult man to persuade. “Why should I work for you, he asked me point blank. I told him that collaboration with us would enable his characters to get pan-India recognition and hence a bigger readership. Besides, it would also add to his earnings,” recalls Verma. The meeting ended with radio silence even though Verma left an advance cheque of Rs 1 lakh with Pran. After a lot of wait, the cartoonist came on board and a deal was struck for a fixed sum for every page of old content in Hindi and English. It did not seem like a jackpot deal at that time, but as the characters took hold of readers’ imagination, the comics tapped into more and more regional markets. Within a few years, Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu were talking in a dozen Indian languages, including Gujarati and Bengali. In fact, the characters’ adventurous forays became so popular in Bangladesh that the Bangla market beat the Hindi one in terms of sales and penetration.
Also read: Baggi, bandhgalas, baajas—Sohan Lal & Sons Ghori Wala pioneered the baraati band in Delhi
Diamond Comics over 50 years
In the late 1970s, when concepts of branding and marketing weren’t big in India, the Diamond Comics team undertook a ballistic advertising campaign. The jingle “Chunnu padhta Diamond Comics, Munni padhti Diamond Comics, mazedaar hai Diamond comics” would be belted out from Vividh Bharati radio on prime-time slots as well as one ad every day on Doordarshan just before the 8 pm news bulletin. Verma also sponsored an interactive programme that came right after the Cadbury Bournvita Quiz Contest. Diamond Comics creatives would narrate the beginning of a Chacha Chaudhary adventure and then stop midway to seek audience suggestions on the concluding part of the story. This programme got children to connect with the characters and develop a sense of ownership in storytelling. “We took a huge risk. Despite heavy telecast fees, we continued to sponsor these programmes for almost 17 years,” says Verma.
Diamond Comics soon became an essential part of every book cart at railway stations and bus stands across India. The intrepid duo of Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu became so well-known that the characters came to endorse brands like Horlicks, Parle, Wrigley’s, Bajaj, and Eno. At one point, Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu became so ubiquitous that various marriage bureaus would use them for painted advertisements on city walls. Displayed prominently on newspaper and magazine covers and in artwork on products.
How integral Chacha Chaudhary is to India’s popular culture is evident in the fact that its references and mentions have popped up on shows like KBC and The Kapil Sharma Show.
Every publisher needs a character or two who have the ability to transcend geographical boundaries, capture mass readership, and remain popular for decades to come. Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu were those characters for Diamond Comics.
Today, looking back at Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu’s 50-year-long voyage at Diamond Comics, it is difficult to imagine that their successful run began as a mere ‘remix’ of old content — but one that turned out to be a sleeper hit.
This article is part of a series called BusinessHistories exploring iconic businesses in India that have endured tough times and changing markets. Read all articles here.