From being glued to the telly to watching Ramayana and Mahabharata, to playing the understudy of Ashwathama in a play, film and theatre actor Aarya Babbar has transformed his love affair with Indian mythology into reality with Pushpak Viman, his debut graphic novel

Aarya Babbar's Pic/Mahesh Chafe

MYTH AND THE MAN
Sufficiently intrigued by this Indian mythological character, Aarya set himself the task of unravelling this character whom he dubs the "protagonist or the antagonist" with plenty of grey shades within. "I began my research on him, and in the process discovered how he (Ashwathama) could seek salvation."
Aarya reminisces the time when as a kid he sat riveted to the telly, watching DD's epic sagas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. "I wondered why hasn't anyone thought about connecting the two," says the ardent comic book and graphic novel fan. In times of Iron Man, Transformers and X-Men, Chacha Chaudhary remains Aarya's all-time favourite. He believes Amar Chitra Katha's Ramayana and Mahabharata series were the best graphic novels ever written.

THE LANKA CONNECT
Back to the present, Aarya's research unearthed some incredible stories. "Did you know that until some time ago, Air Lanka and Air India followed the same route used by Pushpak Viman? Or that five airports in Sri Lanka are located on spots that belong to Pushpak Viman's ancient route?" he adds, trying hard to contain his excitement.

Dealing with sensitive subjects like the Ramayana and Mahabharata wasn't easy. Likewise, with writing a graphic novel in contrast to his film and theatre background. "Both film and graphic novels follow the storyboard format, so it was a breeze. My biggest challenge, however, was to connect both epics and make Pushpak Viman a contemporary read, set in 2010-12."

Pushpak Viman is an ancient Vedic aircraft. Besides, according to local folklore, there is a belief that Ashwathama still roams the earth in a forest located in Madhya Pradesh. "These twin reasons made it doubly fascinating for us to publish Aarya's Pushpak Viman," adds Karan Vir Arora, CEO and Visionary at Vimanika Comics about their newest addition.

With comic book gurus Frank Miller and Grant Morisson as his heroes, and director Shekhar Kapoor as his inspiration to take a step into unknown terrain, Aarya is gung-ho about the 12 volumes of Pushpak Viman that will land at bookstores this December.

Pushpak Viman, Aarya Babbar, Vimanika Comics; order via Dial-a-book on 9650457457; www.vimanika.com

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels