Amar

Chitra Katha
Amar Chitra Katha (ACK, "Immortal Captivating (or
Picture) Stories") is one of India's largest selling comic
Amar Chitra Katha
book series, with more than 100 million copies sold in 20
Indian languages.[1] Founded in 1967, the imprint has
more than 400 titles that retell stories from the great
Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables in a
comic book format. It was created by Anant Pai, and
published by India Book House. In 2007, the imprint and all
its titles were acquired by a new venture called ACK Media.
On 17 September 2008, a new website by ACK-media was
launched.[2][3]

Contents The logo

Creation and creators Publication information

Comics Publisher Amar Chitra Katha Pvt.

Modernisation Ltd.

Criticism Publication 1967

date
References in popular culture
No. of issues 1029
Films
See also
Creative team

References Written by Various

Further reading Artist(s) Various

External links
Amar Chitra Katha
Authors Anant Pai, Reena Ityah
Creation and creators Puri (a Tamilian writer)

The comic series was started by Anant Pai in an attempt to teach Indian children about their cultural
heritage. He was shocked that Indian students could answer questions on Greek and Roman
mythology, but were ignorant of their own history, mythology and folklore. It so happened that a quiz
contest aired on Doordarshan in February 1967, in which participants could easily answer questions
pertaining to Greek mythology, but were unable to reply to the question "In the Ramayana, who was
Rama's mother?".[4][5]

The above is an oft-told story of how ACK was founded beginning with 'Uncle Pai', in Mumbai in 1967.
However, Outlook Magazine has this article about the genesis of this popular comic series: The idea
and proposal for Amar Chitra Katha was made by a Bangalore book salesman called G.K. Ananthram
which led to the first Amar Chitra Katha comics being produced in 1965—in Kannada, not English. "The
English ACK titles begin from number eleven because the first ten were in Kannada," clarifies
Ananthram. To Anathram's satisfaction, the 1965 Kannada ACK venture was a great commercial
success which led to Mirchandani in the head office in Mumbai pursuing the Amar Chitra Katha idea in
English diligently. "They brought in Anant Pai" says Ananthram. "And he built a wonderful team and a
great brand."[6]

Writers like Kamala Chandrakant, Margie Sastry, Subba Rao, Debrani Mitra and C.R Sharma joined the
creative team of Amar Chitra Katha, with Anant Pai taking on the role of editor and co-writer on most
scripts. The notable illustrators were Ram Waeerkar, who illustrated the very first issue of Amar Chitra
Katha, Krishna, Dilip Kadam, C. M. Vitankar, Sanjeev Waeerkar, Souren Roy, C.D Rane, Ashok Dongre,
V.B. Halbe, Jeffrey Fowler, Pratap Mullick and Yusuf Lien aka Yusuf Bangalorewala.[7]

Comics
The original printings of Amar Chitra were not in full colour—because of budgetary constraints, the
panels were printed using yellow, blue and green. Subsequent issues, however, changed to full colour.
All Amar Chitra Katha books stuck to a monthly (later fortnightly) 30-page format, with emphasis on
lucid, entertaining storylines. In addition to the 'singles' form, at the stories are also available as
hardcover 3-in-1 and 5-in-1 bundles. There are special editions of the epics like the Mahabharata
which is available in a 3 volume 1300+ pages set.

Occasionally there were "bumper" issues with 90 pages, most collecting stories of a similar type from
individual issues (e.g. Monkey Stories From The Hitopadesha, Tales of Birbal and some being longer
stories The Story of Rama). As the epic stories became more popular, the team began to publish
stories based on Indian history, of men and women belonging to different regions and religions and
also on stories based on Sanskrit as well as regional classics. The continuous popularity of the comics
led to reprints being issued frequently, which ensured that the back-issues remained in print
throughout the seventies and the eighties. At the height of its popularity, in the mid-eighties, it had
been translated into Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil and Urdu
and selling half a million copies a month. Some titles were also translated into French, Spanish,
German, Swahili, Fijian, Indonesian, and Serbo-Croat.

Towards the mid-nineties, the original comics were reprinted in sleeker and more durable editions,
with thick cardstock covers and better colour separations. Today, Amar Chitra Katha has a national
footprint across all major book retailers, hundreds of small bookstores, and tens of thousands of
vendors. It is the best-selling children's publication in most large format stores.

In 2007, the publisher created a new online store that offers all the titles with shipping worldwide. The
titles are divided in following categories

1. Mythology (e.g. Sati and Shiva, Nachiketa, Savitri, Tirupati)

2. The Epics (e.g. The Ramayana, Bhishma, Gandhari, Uloopi, Karna, Ravana)
3. Literary Classics (e.g. Vasavadatta, Kannagi, Nagananda, Shakuntala)
4. Fables & Folktales (e.g. Panchatantra, Jataka Tales, Avvaiyar, Lilan Chanesar)
5. Humour & wit (e.g. Birbal, Tenali Raman, Vidyut Chora)
6. Biographies (e.g. Rana Pratap, Narsinh Mehta, Raja Raja Chola, Lachit Borphukan)
7. 3 in 1 Titles(e.g.The Mughal Court, Valiant Sikhs, Great Indian Emperor)
8. 5 in 1 Titles(e.g.Brave Rajputs, The Kuru Clan, Great Rulers of India)
9. Special Issues(e.g.Saptarshi, Param Vir Chakra)
Modernisation
Amar Chitra Katha has evolved over times. It launched in the first generation of IOS Appstore in 2009
by iRemedi Corp on ETHERMEDIA reader; followed by a launch in the iBookStore in 2010. It has since
forayed into the digital world by launching its official digital store app across platforms – Windows 8,
iOS and Android. Dubbed as ACK Comics, the store offers more than 300 titles. The free app gives
readers access to Amar Chitra Katha comics, ranging from its archive but also including the latest
books that Amar Chitra Katha publishes, with both free and paid comics. The digital comics can be
read in the app in flip-book mode as well as panel-by-panel mode, which is convenient for smaller
devices. Users can download and read their comics on multiple devices using a single user account.

The ACK store app has been developed by App9 Digital Studio, the digital division of Ninestars
Information Technologies Pvt. Ltd.[8][9]

Criticism
According to feminst book critic Nilanjana Roy, the Amar Chitra Katha series reflects 'the stereotypes
and prejudices of modern mainstream Indian culture; pink-skinned, fair heroes and heroines, dark
asuras and villains, passive women drawn as in Indian calendar art from the male perspective'.[10]
However, alongside these portrayals of light-browns, dark-brown skinned heroes like Ram, Krishna are
among the most prominent titles covered in Amar Chitra Katha. Also, dark skinned servants and
subservient women have been swapped for a more neutral skin tone and women who are active
influencers in the stories like Ahilyabai Holkar.

Criticism of the Amar Chitra Katha comics has largely revolved around two central issues: the
depiction of women and the portrayal of minorites, according to author Aruna Rao.[11] The creators
have also been criticised for projecting the superiority of Brahminical or upper-caste Hindu culture
over other viewpoints, presenting Indian caste hierarchies uncritically. However, Aruna Rao points out
that India Book House responded to some of the criticism about the depiction of women and
minorities, and attempted to make amends by adopting a broader perspective.[11]

The stories have often been criticised as distorted depictions of history, with characters being seen
simplistically as 'good' and 'bad' – brave Hindu kings and Muslim 'outsiders', and so on.[12] The
publisher has released an all new series focusing on personalities belonging from the Muslim
community like Razia sultan, Bacha Khan, renowned ornithologist Salim Ali and more.[13][14] Also, the
aim is often to create a hagiography and a lesson in character-building at the expense of authenticity
and historical truth.[15] Another criticism is that comic books, by their very nature, do not reflect the
richness and complexity of the oral tradition of Indian mythology in which multiple versions of a story
can co-exist simultaneously. [16] The editors are now paying due effort in understanding different
version of the mythological stories and accommodating them into regional language versions too. The
new editions have been released featuring regional folktales and local heroes reflecting regional
diversity of the country like Lachit Borphukan, the Assamese leader who fought the Mughals. The
editors have tried to pay close attention to the changing sensitivities of the people and trying to
accommodate the diversity of story telling by giving equal importance to regional versions and
accommodating them in regional language version.[13][14]

References in popular culture

In Anurag Kashyap's controversial Hindi film Gulaal, an anti-casteist character Rananjay Singh Ransa
expresses his disillusionment with his Rajput roots by saying that: "
!" – I don't want to spend my life in
Amar Chitra Katha.

Films
The following films were produced by Amar Chitra Katha under ACK Animation Studios banner

Year Film Director Notes

Tripura – The Three Cities of Chetan TV Movie

2011
Maya Sharma Co-produced with Animagic

Co-produced with Maya Digital Studios and Cartoon

2012 Sons of Ram Kushal Ruia
Network India

See also
List of Amar Chitra Katha comics for a comprehensive listing of all titles released till date.

References
1. "Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle to entertain kids on Net" (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-tinkle-to
-entertain-kids-on-net/57468-11.html). CNN-IBN. 27 January 2008. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/200
80128041846/http://www.ibnlive.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-tinkle-to-entertain-kids-on-net/57468-11.html)
from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
2. "ACK Media buys Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle brands" (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/11/22/stori
es/2007112250170500.htm). Business Line. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
3. In India, New Life for Comic Books as TV Cartoons (https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/global/2
0comics.html) The New York Times, 19 July 2009."... sells about three million comic books a year, in
English and more than 20 Indian languages, and has sold about 100 million copies since it was founded in
1967"
4. Now, Amar Chitra Katha gets even younger (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-10-16/mumbai/
28085525_1_amar-chitra-katha-ack-anant-pai) Vijay Singh, TNN, The Times of India, 16 October 2009.
5. The World of Amar Chitra Katha (https://books.google.com/books?id=cgDHFFe7YM8C&pg=PA76&dq=Anan
t+Pai+-inauthor:%22Anant+Pai%22#v=onepage&q=Anant%20Pai%20-inauthor%3A%22Anant%20Pai%22&f
=false) Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, by Lawrence A Babb, Susan S. Wadley.
Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998. ISBN 81-208-1453-3. Chapt. 4, p. 76-86.
6. A Pandit Had A Dream ... Outlook India Magazine, 21 March 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011 (http://ww
w.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?270843)
7. For a short biography of Anant Pai, Kamala Chandrakant, Subba Rao, Margie Sastry, Ram Waeerkar,
Pratap Mulick, see Norbert Barth, "India Book House and Amar Chitra Katha (1970–2002)", Wuerzburg 2008,
p.47-59.
8. "Amar Chitra Katha's ACK Comics App Will Take You Back to Simpler Times" (http://gadgets.ndtv.com/app
s/reviews/amar-chitra-kathas-ack-comics-app-will-take-you-back-to-simpler-times-517384). NDTV
Gadgets360.com. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
9. "Amar Chitra Katha goes digital with ACK Comics app for Android, iOS and Windows" (http://www.fonearena
.com/blog/102656/amar-chitra-katha-goes-digital-with-ack-comics-app-for-android-ios-and-windows.html).
www.fonearena.com. Retrieved 2015-11-26.
10. Roy, Nilanjana S. (2 March 2011). "Uncle Pai and the Amar Chitra Katha universe" (http://www.business-sta
ndard.com/india/news/nilanjana-s-roy-uncle-paithe-amar-chitra-katha-universe/426945/). Business Standard.
11. Rao, Aruna (2001). "From Self-Knowledge to Super Heroes: The Story of Indian Comics". In John A. Lent.
Illustrating Asia: Comics, Humor Magazines, and Picture Books (https://books.google.com/books?id=SSM4
r36KjuQC&pg=PA47). University of Hawaii Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8248-2471-6. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
12. Desai, Chetan. 2003. "The Krishna Controversy." International Journal of Comic Art. Spring:325–333.
13. David, Priti (2017-12-16). "And now, a dapper Ravana: Amar Chitra Katha undergoes makeover" (https://ww
w.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/and-now-a-dapper-ravana-amar-chitra-katha-undergoes-makeover/article21
695380.ece). The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0971-751X). Retrieved 2019-01-16.
14. "The undying world of Amar Chitra Katha" (https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/comment-the-undying-world-of
-amar-chitra-katha-1102313). dna. 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
15. John Stratton Hawley (1 January 1998). "The Saints Subdued: Domestic Virtue and National Integration in
Amar Chitra Katha". In Lawrence A Babb & Susan S. Wadley. Media and the Transformation of Religion in
South Asia (https://books.google.com/books?id=cgDHFFe7YM8C&pg=PA107). Motilal Banarsidass.
pp. 107–. ISBN 978-81-208-1453-0. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
16. Steven E. Lindquist (1 October 2011). Religion and Identity in South Asia and Beyond: Essays in Honor of
Patrick Olivelle (https://books.google.com/books?id=WMalBRx5OAcC&pg=PA383). Anthem Press.
pp. 385–. ISBN 978-0-85728-790-8. Retrieved 17 April 2012.

Further reading
Love revives Indian comics (http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertain
ment%20-%20Etc&sectid=31&contentid=2010082020100820195659472953d1b10) After a break of 4 years,
Amar Chitra Katha launches a new title on Mother Teresa (http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page
=article&sectname=Entertainment%20-%20Etc&sectid=31&contentid=2010082020100820195659472953d1b
10): Little Acts of Love, on 26 August 2010, to celebrate the Mother's 100th birth anniversary.
India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes, by Karline McLain, Indiana University
Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-253-22052-3.
The Classic Popular: Amar Chitra Katha (1967–2007), by Nandini Chandra, Yoda Press, 2008. ISBN 81-
903634-3-3. 3
"Amar Chitra Katha: Western Forms, Indian Contents", by Sanjay Sircar, Bookbird, A Journal of
International Children's Literature, 2000, 38, Nr. 4, p. 35–36.
"From Self-Knowledge to Super Heroes: The Story of Indian Comics", by Aruna Rao, 2001, in: Lent, A. John
(Ed.), Illustrating Asia, Comics, Humour Magazines, and Picture Books, Richmond, p. 37–63.
"India Book House and Amar Chitra Katha (1970–2002)",(German), by Norbert Barth, Würzburg 2008,
http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-wuerzburg/volltexte/2008/2789/pdf/indiabookhouse.pdf
Deepa Sreenivas (7 April 2010). Sculpting a Middle Class: History, Masculinity and the Amar Chitra Katha in
India (https://books.google.com/books?id=-M1aPgAACAAJ&dq=%22amar+chitra+katha%22&hl=en&sa=X&
ei=xHuNT7mHE8m3rAeFzcSgCQ&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBQ). Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-56310-9. Retrieved
17 April 2012.

External links
The official Amar Chitra Katha website (http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/)
"PVC – stories of 21 fearless soldiers" (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/
media/amar-chitra-katha-to-launch-param-vir-chakra-this-week/articleshow/48350552.cms). Highest Gallantry
Award (http://www.soldierkart.com/index.php/comic-book-series-param-vir-chakra.html)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amar_Chitra_Katha&oldid=890304862"

This page was last edited on 31 March 2019, at 14:58 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.