The story of a man’s fight against the evils of society is a big cliché. But one such man called Bahadur emerged as a cult figure in the comic book world in the 1970s.
His exploits continue to be a subject of fascination for Bollywood. Several filmmakers including Raj Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap have approached his creator, Aabid Surti, for adaptations.
And now, after almost two decades, Surti is set to bring his most popular character back to its fans. A website dedicated to Bahadur’s new comic strips will be launched by Hindi author RK Paliwal on December 10. “We are starting a serialisation online, wherein we will launch four pages first and then upload a page a week until the story is completed,” says Surti, adding, “The first official strip of the new comic is called Red Brick House. But before that, we will upload the first story ever written in the series, to introduce Bahadur’s character and background.”
Though the strips will be free to read online, Surti is open to the idea of publishing the comic, which used to feature in dailies and weeklies 20 years ago in separate volumes.
{{/usCountry}}Though the strips will be free to read online, Surti is open to the idea of publishing the comic, which used to feature in dailies and weeklies 20 years ago in separate volumes.
{{/usCountry}}Surti’s first story is ready and he and his illustrator Pramod Brahmania have already started work on the second one. Bahadur’s character will now see a marked evolution.
“In those days, he would fight dacoits because they were the issue in villages. Now he fights terrorists, has an AK 47 and carries a cell phone,” Surti explains, adding that Bahadur has even been trained by the police. For one of the few Indian comic heroes, Bollywood wasn’t far away, but it never happened to Bahadur. “By the time Raj Kapoor decided to make a film on Bahadur, he took to bed. Recently, Shah Rukh Khan and Ashutosh Gowariker approached me. Let’s see, I’m waiting for a confirmation,” Surti reveals.