Satyajit Ray's spooky story 'Khagam' gets turned into a graphic novel to cater to Gen Z readers
Khagam', has come out in a graphic novel format in English, to cater to Gen Z readers. 'Khagam', which tells the scary tale of an arrogant man gradually turning into a snake, is the first English graphic novel based on one of Ray's short stories, though more are likely to follow. Ray better known as the movie maestro who put India on the global map, was also a versatile artist-designer and best-selling author.
«Bengali literature boasts of so many wonderful stories. Yet they remain untouched by the young generation because of the fading reading habit. » 'Khagam' in an English graphic novel format is hence an attempt to bridge that gap and introduce Gen Z readers to Ray's masterpieces," said Shamik Chatterjee of design collective Grinning Tree, the man behind the initiative.
The story was first published in Bengali magazine Sandesh in 1972 and the Bengali graphic novel of it was published in January this year. Using a pure Indian style of illustrations with a surreal colour palette, the hard-bound English version was published recently. Though the detective Feluda or scientist-adventurer Prof Shanku series are better-known works of Ray, his short stories are also equally popular.
Chatterjee, who considers the graphic novel to be a It is a labour of love, said that after hitting roadblocks in publishing it with established publishers, decided to take the plunge into the publishing world with the graphic novel. «We have the rights to create Bengali and English graphic novels of 10 short stories of Satyajit Ray. Our next project is Mr Sasmal-er Sesh Ratri (The last night of Mr Sasmal).
We plan to launch it before this year's Durga Puja. 'Lucknow-er Duel' (The Duel in Lucknow) will come thereafter,» he told PTI. The art
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