Friday, July 19, 2013

Amar Chitra Katha.

Amar Chitra Katha to tell Guj tales in Gujarati

Ahmedabad: They tell Indian folklore, mythological stories and biographies of historical characters – using the comics’ way, for children. And these stories will now also be about Gujarat and in Gujarati!
 
Created by educationist and pioneer of Indian Comics, Anant Pai (Uncle Pai), Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and Tinkle are all set to appear in Gujarati. The new series, which will be launched within the next one month, will feature tales from Gujarat, including inspirational stories of late Dr Verghese Kurien and the white revolution, or Amul, as we know it today.
 
“Our aim is to make it (Amar Chitra Katha) more contemporary by adding more regional stories to it,” said Manas Mohan, COO and publishing director of ACK Media, on Wednesday. He was in Ahmedabad to announce this new endeavour. “Our reinvention strategy started in 2010 when we launched ‘ACK – Mother Teresa’, the first modern Indian hero. Our aim, since then, has been to tell stories of events and people, who have contributed to making of Modern India,” added Mohan.
 
ACK Gujarati will be launched in a month’s time with at least six to eight titles that will include stories about Lord Krishna, Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and others. New additions will be made every eight months, after which ACK will launch Tinkle monthly magazine and digest in Gujarati. This is merely beginning of ACK venture into a full-time Gujarati version of the popular magazine.
 
Mohan, during his stay here on Wednesday, also met officials of the state tourism department for ACK’s National Geographic media. “We are looking at developing an interesting opportunity with Gujarat by introducing National Geographic’s initiative. Under this (initiative), we will be selecting partners to set up a full-fledged photography exhibition,” said Mohan.
 
It was about eight years ago that ACK had first launched Gujarati titles. Then why the revamp, and Mohan explained, “We are now investing more and exploring deeper into this regional language, which, according to us, is the second primary Indian language worldwide.”
 
ACK is now looking forward to qualitative feedback, and for this, they are working closely with litterateurs from the state. “But I can’t disclose their names before the official launch next month,” said Mohan.

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