Case Title:

AMAR CHITRA KATHA: CHANGING THE BRAND WITH CHANGING TIMES?1

Author 1:

Subhadip Roy

Designation: Asst. Professor Affiliation: Address: IBS, Hyderabad IFHE Campus Shankerpalli, Dontanapalli Main Road Hyderabad 501504, Andhra Pradesh Phone: Email: 09989864694 subhadip1@gmail.com

Author 2:

YLR Moorthi

Designation: Professor Affiliation: Address: IIM Bangalore Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, India. Pin Code: 560 076 Email: ylrm@iimb.ernet.in

This case was prepared by Subhadip Roy of IBS Hyderabad and YLR Moorthi of IIM Bangalore and is intended to be used for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of the situation. Presented to and accepted for the International Case Conference, November 2011, Goa, India. Copyright is with Subhadip Roy
1

AMAR CHITRA KATHA: CHANGING THE BRAND WITH CHANGING TIMES? We called it Amar Chitra Katha also because the picture story is an ancient form of storytelling. Some of the earliest stories from the prehistoric era were recorded in pictures tales of exciting hunts and discovery. I believe that we can instill good values in children through stories, show them a good path. If these stories are illustrated, then theres nothing better. That was our thought.2 - Anant (Uncle) Pai, Founder Amar Chitra Katha "I think it's not possible to connect with today's children unless you are on television. When we grew up, it was a very different era and it was a very different world. But today, there is nothing more larger than life than films. So, I think if you look at those two things, the fact that broadcast is the most important media today for kids, it's a must do."3 - Samir Patil, CEO ACK Media INTRODUCTION The first quote summarizes the essence and objectives behind the beginning of Amar Chitra Katha (Immortal Picture Stories), a series of comic books illustrating the glorious past of India in every aspects. It speaks about the vision of Anant Pai (Pai), popularly known as Uncle Pai who started the series from a humble beginning which went on to create comic history in India. On February 24th 2011, Anant Pai (Pai), the creator of the Amar Chitra Katha comics & of childrens magazine Tinkle, passed away at the age of 81 after suffering a severe heart attack (Refer to Exhibit I for a note on Anant Pai). People of all ages expressed shock and grief at his demise. Such were the sentiments of people who worked with him, Mr. Pai was a pioneer and an inspiration for everyone who worked in the field of childrens entertainment and education, said Samir Patil, the head of ACK Media, which has owned Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle since 2007. Since its inception in 1967, Amar Chitra Katha comics have come a long way. Lots of new story lines, new characters, and new media have been developed. The brand Amar Chitra Katha has become famous not only in India but abroad too. Every Indian child from 1967 till today would have at one point in his childhood read these comics. Such is the fan following that the adults who grew up in late 1970s and 80s still read the comics in their free time. Amar Chitra Katha, even in the first decade of 2000s was one of Indias largest selling comic book series with more than 90 million copies sold in 20 Indian languages. The imprint had more than 500 titles in 2010 which regaled stories from the great Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables and biographies.

Excerpts from a 2009 video interview with the father of Indian comics, Uncle Pai, shot for a documentary on Indian comics history. By Whistling Woods International. 3 Amar Chitra Katha to make its TV debut soon. By Manisha Mahaldar, CNN IBN. Aug 12, 2009. www.ibnlive.in.com.

The journey of the work which started as an educational tool to make the Indian children aware of Indian mythology, history and culture was not free from criticism. The creative team behind the series was accused of singular scripts and not thoroughly researched historical and mythological characters. But the vision of Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai prevailed and a testimony to the fact was that Indian children in the 21st century knew about the Indian mythology and history through these comic series. The dream of Uncle Pai to make Indian children well versed with Indian culture had remained intact though the medium of communication changed owing to the information technology revolution. Amar Chitra Katha als had to change with time, a view which has been summarized in the second quote at the beginning of the case. The holding company in 2010 had realized the digitalization of the media and used it in its favor to reach the internet and electronic media savvy generation. The company had tried to reach its audience through the launch of an online portal, DVDs/VCDs, sponsoring movies based on Amar Chitra Katha, comics on mobile phone platforms, etc. However, such actions were shifting the focus of the brand from books to electronic media. This had put the management into a two pronged dilemma. First, the shift from print to electronic media implied that the competitive landscape would be different Shift to electronic media also meant shift from the core product i.e. books and comics to cartoons and cds/dvds. But the management felt that the shift was inevitable to maintain a stable position in the marketplace and achieve growth. It was up to time to judge the long term success of the brand Amar Chitra Katha.

THE JOURNEY Indian Book House Pvt. Ltd. (IBH) was founded in 1952 in Mumbai, at a time when indigenous comic industry was almost absent. IBH at that time was mainly into distribution of imported books and magazines in India. IBH also used to publish paperback editions of authors such as Enid Blyton and Frederick Forsyth. The Indian editions of two very popular comic series Tintin and Asterix also were published by them in Indian languages. According to Anant Pai, Amar Chitra Katha had its real origin in Delhi. Pai was attending a quiz show for children in 1967 where an odd phenomenon occurred. A young boy was asked a question about Hindu mythology and he couldnt answer it: They could answer every question about Greek mythologybut in Delhi, mind you, where every year they enact the Ramlila4 for ten long days they enact scenes from the Ramayana the youngster could not answer the question, Who is the mother of Ram?5

Ramlila (Hindi: literally means Ramas play) is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram and the ten day battle between him and Ravan, from the Hindu religious epic, the Ramayana. It is traditionally organized in a makeshift open-air theatre during September/October depending on the Hindu calendar. It is usually staged by amateur actors from the same social grouping as the audience. Ramlila has received considerable global attention and UNESCO declared Ramlila as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005. 5 The world of Amar Chitra Katha, by Frances W. Pritchett in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley, University of Pennsylvania Press, Indian Ed. New Delhi, 1997, pp. 76.
4

Pai felt that something really was wrong somewhere. He realized that the kids were reading too much of non Indian books and one of the reasons may be the unavailability of good quality books for children dealing with Indian history, mythology and culture. In 1966, one of the publishers at IBH, H.G. Mirchandani (Mirchandani), had tried his hand at translating Classics Illustrated6 comics, in Hindi but the comic series failed to attract attention of the child readers. Pai had once worked on the comic strip The Phantom during his tenure with the Times of India7, and he knew that to sell such a product, it should be written for the English language market, i.e. for the kids who would like to read comics in English. Moreover Pai had confidence in the Indian culture and history and was sure that a comic series on the same would be a success. Mirchandani let Pai try out his suggestion which took the form of Indian classics in English with the help of pictures. Thus, Amar Chitra Katha came into existence in 1967. The time of the launch of Amar Chitra Katha couldnt have been better. There was a paradigm shift in the Indian society as it was slowly moving away from the traditional joint family system to nuclear families. In an Indian joint family, the children were told stories from folklore and the epics by their grandparents. The void left by absence of grandparents in the smaller nuclear families was filled by Amar Chitra Katha series. The language chosen was English which made it possible for majority of children who studied in English medium schools to access it. Both parents and teachers started using the series as educational tools for their children. The authenticity of the information provided in the books was a result of extensive research by the creative team. The research led outcome helped Amar Chitra Katha to be widely appreciated and accepted by the masses. The first volume in the series was Krishna8, was first printed in an edition of 10,000 copies but was hard to sell. The series was numbered 11 by Pai instead of one to give it an auspicious touch. The publishing house IBH originally printed Amar Chitra Katha using yellow, blue and green colors due to budgetary constraints. However, the later issues were changed to full color. The initial idea was to bring out a new comic book once a month. The earliest titles came in six different languages namely English, Hindi, Kannada, Gujarati, Telugu and Marathi. Initial success came late and it was hard to sustain such a rigorous proposition. Initially, the series lost money, but there was a rise in its popularity. The first book in the series, Krishna (Refer to Exhibit II for the front cover of this Issue) went on to sell over half a million copies. The logo of the brand symbolized the sun as well as learning since light was associated with learning (Refer to Exhibit III for the logo). By the 1980s, the series was publishing a new comic once a fortnight, with much excitement and extensive advertisement in other Amar Chitra Katha issues. Every issue was first produced in English and as per the sales potential was then translated into various regional languages. By this

Classics Illustrated was a comic book series featuring adaptations of literary classics such as War of The Worlds, Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, etc. The series was created by Albert Kanter and ran publication from 1941 to 1971, producing 169 issues. The series was very popular and various publication houses had since reprinted its titles. 7 The Times of India (TOI) is the largest selling English-language daily newspaper in the world. It was founded in 1838 as 'The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce' in Mumbai, India. Presently the paper is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. under the Sahu Jain family. 8 In Hindu religion, Krishna is regarded as the eight incarnation of lord Vishnu. According to mythology, he was born in the Dvapara Eon and was christened Krishna or the "dark one" because of his dark complexion. Lord Krishna is believed to be the embodiment of love and divine joy and is the protector of good against evil.
6

time more regional languages were included. Amar Chitra Katha was now being published in Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, and Gujarati, and occasionally Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Urdu, and Sanskrit. The multilingual advantage of Amar Chitra Katha was featured in the initial advertisements (Refer to Exhibit IV). The reason behind this was to target the kids who were more into vernacular languages. India in the 1980s still had a big majority of schools with vernacular medium of instruction. In the late 1980s, the marketing strategy changed and instead of promoting single issues in an isolated manner, the emphasis shifted to pre-planned miniseries groupings. The issues were initially priced at a nominal rate of 75p9 which was within the reach of most of the target group. In 1986, IBH claimed to have sold a total of 50 million copies since the series began (Refer to Exhibit V for details of the series wise break up of Amar Chitra Katha titles in 1986). The series underwent minor changes in the first twenty-five years since inception. The series started coming with page numbers on the pages with headers having title and the series name instead of just pictures on the pages. There was some criticism from many quarters in terms of authenticity of information in the comics. Many of the Amar Chitra Katha issues were based on history and real people alongside mythology and folktales. Thus as a reply some changes were incorporated. The inside front cover started offering the date of publication and full bibliographic information. The series went scholarly change with respect to spellings of names. Footnotes to define problematical words and related stories were also included in the issues. After late 1980s, the series were launched into book forms which benefitted both the sellers and the buyers. With over five hundred titles then, it was not humanly possible for any bookseller to display them due to space constraints. The only solution seemed possible was to gather them into books (hardbound ones) so that they can be conveniently displayed, the binding side standing upright, showing their titles. By 1993, Amar Chitra Katha sold over 78 million copies according to IBH. Towards the midnineties, the original comics were reprinted in thinner editions, with thick covers and better color separations. The creative team at Amar Chitra Katha comprised of notables writers and illustrators like Ram Waeerkar, Souren Roy, Kamala Chandrakant, Margie Sastry, Subba Rao, Debrani Mitra, C.R Sharma, Dilip Kadam, Sanjeev Waeerkar, C. D. Rane, Geoffrey Fowler and Pratap Mullick. But Pai still remained the editor. The popularity of the epic stories propelled the team to publish stories based on Indian history, of inhabitants of different regions and also stories on regional classics. BRAND EXTENSIONS The success of Amar Chitra Katha inspired Pai to start a new venture. Thus a wholesome monthly all-comics magazine for young children called Tinkle came out in November 1980 (Refer to Exhibit VIA for the cover of the first issue of Tinkle). The magazine was launched under Rang Rekha10 Features. However, to leverage the magazine based on the reputation already built by Amar Chitra Katha, the cover page mentioned The Childrens monthly from the house of Amar Chitra Katha and had the Amar Chitra Katha logo. The magazine contained comics, puzzles, general knowledge, contests and other features targeted at school children

9 10

INR 1 = 100p. USD 1 = INR 45 approximately as on June 7, 2011. India's first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with Pai as the Managing Director.

(Refer Exhibit VIB for a Note on Tinkle). The same artists associated with Amar Chitra Katha were creating the artwork of Tinkle. Managing Tinkle was even more challenging since it was a magazine in the form of comics. Some of the characters who started appearing in the magazine stories became very popular and many of them were continued even after the original illustrator passed away or resigned. The popularity of the characters had helped the brand later on to come out with special issues with stories of only these special characters (Refer Exhibit VIC for a description of the major individual characters). The increasing popularity led IBH to make Tinkle a fortnightly magazine later on. With the success of Tinkle, Pai came up with one more extension. The monthly digest from Tinkle was named as Partha and released in September in 1986. Partha was designed to awaken the winner in you. It was positioned as a self development magazine, and was meant for older children. The word PARTHA was an acronym for the attributes required for success i.e. Positive thinking (P); Aim (A); Restraint (R); Training (T); Hard work (H); Abiding interest (A). Though a success initially this magazine could not achieve success in the long run.

THE COMICS MARKET IN INDIA IN THE 1970s AND 1980s One of earliest attempts to create and publish Indian comics with a domestic flavour was by childrens magazine Chandamama11. Chandamama was published in more than 5 regional languages since 1947. The comics published in Chandamama were adaptations of stories from the great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. However, at that time the market was dominated by imported international comics such as Tintin, Asterix, Archie and Commando. However, the high prices of the foreign comic books deterred the general audience from purchasing them. To address this issue Bennet, Coleman & Co. Ltd. (also the publisher of the newspaper The Times of India), launched a new series called Indrajal12 Comics in March 1964. The first 32 issues of the series contained stories of the Phantom13. Thereafter, many of the famous international comic characters, including Mandrake, Flash Gordon, Rip Kerby and Buz Sawyer became regular features of Indrajal comics. Indrajal comics had also its share of Indian heroes. In 1978, the distinctly Indian character, Bahadur was created by artist Aabid Surti and joined the bandwagon. Later on there were characters such as Dara (an Indian version of James Bond) and Aditya. The comics were available in a large number of regional dialects. The low price of the individual issues combined with the good print quality and international flavor made Indrajal comics an instant success. However, due to unknown reasons, the publishers decided to discontinue the series from 1990. Around the same time there was an entrepreneur cartoonist called Pran Kumar Sharma who started publishing chronicles of a comic character called Daabu in the 1960s. He followed it up with Shrimatiji, who was a representation of the then Indian housewife. In 1973, Pran created Chacha Chowdhary (Uncle Chowdhary) and Sabu (a man from planet Jupiter), the duo who

Chandamama was launched by B. Nagi Reddy and Chakrapani with an aim to educate and entertain young readers about the rich cultural traditions of India. In 2007, Chandamama launched its own website and by 2010, it was being published in 13 Indian languages. In the later part of the 2000s it was acquired by Mumbai based Geodesic Limited. 12 Indrajal is a Hindi word which means Magic. 13 Phantom was a comic superhero character created by artist Lee Falk in 1939. Phantom was a costumed crimefighter based in the fictional African country Bengalla. Lee Falk also created Mandrake the Magician.
11

combined brain and brawn to fight the evils of society. Later on, in 1978, Diamond Comics was established under the holding company Diamond Comics Pvt. Ltd. Many more characters like Pinki, Billu, Jhapatji came from the house of Diamond Comics and were loved by kids since they represented common people and day to day life. Within a short while Diamond Comics became the largest publishers of comics in India, and had acquired copyrights to publish various nonIndian comics such as Phantom, James Bond and Archie. It was also one of the very first publishers in India to create comic books based on successful Television serial Shaktiman (An Indian Superhero). India also had a thriving comic book market in some regions such as West Bengal (Bengal). In the late 1960s, Bengal already had their own superhero (Bantul the Great), kid version of Laurel and Hardy (Handa Bhonda) and chronicles of a boarding schools mischievous students and their superintendent (Nante Fante). Most of these comics were first published in childrens magazines and then collected and published as a series by regional publishers.

MARKETING STRATEGIES Amar Chitra Katha has used innovative marketing strategies over the time. The first and foremost advantage was the positioning. It had a very Indian flavor in it. This was topped by the informative value of the comics which was not present in any of the competitors. The series were positioned as educational tools and urged parents to accustom their children with Indian culture by using the series. The series boasted of its power in the back covers of the issues (Refer Exhibit VII for sample ads published in back covers of the issues), some examples of which were: Acquaint your children with their cultural heritage, Give your child a gift hell treasure forever the gift of his own heritage. In December 1987, Amar Chitra Katha the Route to your Roots, an advertising flyer was inserted into some issues of Amar Chitra Katha. A more refined statement to strengthen the positioning came in March 1988. The claim read: Amar Chitra Katha.5000 years of Indias mythology, history, legend the very soul of Indian culture packed in volumes of 32 colourful pages14 (Issue 399 inside back cover). In the initial years IBH was just a book publishing firm and apprehensive about the use of innovative marketing strategies. So Pai had to take charge of pitching Amar Chitra Katha. He went against the established culture and he went for marketing activities himself. One such action was putting up a display rack in a restaurant with his own hands. He distributed free copies to schools to demonstrate the value of Amar Chitra Katha as a learning tool. The outcome of this move was that many school libraries became subscribers. Pai emphasized on annual subscriptions, so that the comics were received regularly through the mail like magazines. During this time, Pai travelled to various schools in India. He also got some of the buses in Mumbai painted with characters from the comic books and heavily advertised in school newsletter. Pai did not go for traditional media to advertise his product. Rather he used the existing Amar Chitra Katha issues to advertise future issues and benefits of reading Amar Chitra Katha (Refer

The world of Amar Chitra Katha, by Frances W. Pritchett in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley, University of Pennsylvania Press, Indian Ed. New Delhi, 1997, pp 81.
14

to Exhibit VII for some of early ads of Amar Chitra Katha). Moreover by mid eighties both Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle had become popular among kids. So, Pai went for a crossadvertising strategy. Advertisements of Amar Chitra Katha used to be published in Tinkle and vice versa. Pai also realized that since Amar Chitra Katha had a wide reach among children, it could serve as a media for advertising to children. Thus he allowed advertisers to put full page ads on the back cover and inside back cover of the issues. This strategy was very successful and lots of prominent brands at that time put their ads in Amar Chitra Katha (Refer Exhibit VIII for product advertisements inside Amar Chitra Katha Issues). To increase up-selling, Amar Chitra Katha tied up with Polydor Records and Amarnad Cassettes to bring out narrated versions of Amar Chitra Katha stories along with background music (Refer to Exhibit IX for an advertisement of Audio Versions of Amar Chitra Katha). This initiative was launched in the late 1970s. This product however could not achieve much success as the books. PROBLEMS AND CRITICISMS The road was not always smooth for the brand. In 1976, Amar Chitra Katha attracted for the first time a very different sort of attention. The issue of Valmiki, published in that year depicted Valmiki as Brahmin and thief in his initial years before composing Ramayana. This deeply hurt the sentiments of Valmiki Sabha, (a group in the Punjab wanting to change their caste identity) who maintained that Valmiki was neither a Brahman nor a thief. This made them to sue Pai for defamation15. But Pai did not want any controversy so he reconciled and no legal case went off the ground. This made Pai to remove the issue on Valmiki from circulation. When he attempted other issues on untouchability (e.g. Chokhamela in 1983 and Ravidas in 1986) he took extra care not to hurt the sensibilities of less privileged classes. Great caution was taken in preparing issues about characters from other minority communities as well. Whenever, an issue involving Sikh characters was drafted, expert opinion on beards was sought. The series on Guru Nanak depicted the holy man with a halo around his head from infancy to show respect to Sikh feelings. Many titles in the series display the following pledge: Amar Chitra Katha are brought out by people who care for children; - who screen each word and each picture as they have a lasting impact on impressionable minds; - for whom Amar Chitra Katha is more a vehicle of education than a business16. LACK OF IDEAS? From the mid 1990s onwards, there was a severe lack of new ideas and new issues. The brand was surviving on reprints of old issues. Thus to take care of the growth, Pai came up with an innovative strategy. It was decided to group Amar Chitra Katha titles into larger, more book like units. One had options of ordering a series of deluxe hardbound volumes sequentially bound in sets of ten. These hardbound issues were named as Bumper Issues and these were mostly the collection of related stories with a connecting super theme. Another collection came up called

15

The world of Amar Chitra Katha, by Frances W. Pritchett in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley, University of Pennsylvania Press, Indian Ed. New Delhi, 1997. 16 The world of Amar Chitra Katha, by Frances W. Pritchett in Media and the Transformation of Religion in South Asia, eds. Lawrence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley, University of Pennsylvania Press, Indian Ed. New Delhi, 1997, pp. 79.

Navaratna (Hindi, Meaning: Nine Gems) Deluxe volumes with each containing nine related titles. Soon afterwards, the series started coming as hardcover 3-in-1 and 5-in-1 bundled issues with single volumes still available. The epics like Mahabharata started coming in special editions 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 (Refer Exhibit X for the revamped book types from Amar Chitra Katha).

THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE One thing was changing rapidly in the late 1990s and early 2000 and that was the media. The cable TV penetration which started in the late 1980s in India was flourishing (Refer Exhibit XIA for the trend in TV penetration in India). Along with the cable TV revolution arrived private channels and many of them were completely dedicated to children such as Cartoon Network, Disney and Nickelodeon. These channels started to take a share in the pie of leisure activities of children. Moreover by the early 2000 the personal computer was becoming a household feature in the Indian middle class and children started to spend time on it. By the mid 2000, the Internet also emerged as a strong media of communication. Thus, the kids whose leisure time had mainly books and games (indoor and outdoor) had a diversified array of options in front of them. This reduced the reading time of physical books and has a dampening effect on reading habits. Amar Chitra Katha, being a part of the book industry was affected by this shift in trends. Moreover the internet started to become a popular media and leisure activity of the young generation and the internet penetration was growing at a very fast rate (Refer Exhibit XIB for trend in Internet penetration in India). The kids started spending more time on the net in activities such a emailing, browsing and chatting. Thus Amar Chitra Katha was facing a decline similar to that faced by US comic giants like Marvel Inc. Both the sales and the popularity of Amar Chitra Katha were declining. In such a situation there was a need for a change. A NEW MANAGEMENT On November 2007, all the Amar Chitra Katha titles and Tinkle magazine were bought by Mumbai Entrepreneur Samir Patil (Patil) under the umbrella brand of ACK Media. ACK Media was founded in early 2007 by Patil with a focus on new product development centering on Indian themes. The mission statements of the new company included fostering creativity among young people and encourage critical thinking and at the same time develop sensitivity towards social and physical environments. The long term goal of the company was to become a leader in providing quality high-entertainment and education to children of all years. However, even after the buyout, Pai was retained as a consultant to ACK Media. The two flagship brands Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle were both brought under the same umbrella of ACK Media which already owned another brand of children literature called Karadi Tales. The new company had a five pronged approach towards the brand. It offered Amar Chitra Katha Illustrated Classics, the Tinkle family of Magazines (which included Tinkle, Tinkle Digest and Tinkle Double Digest), and also wanted to start up The ACK Online Store, TinkleOnline.com and also come up with a set of proprietary characters. The new company wanted to increase focus on developing original content and products and wanted to make them available in multiple formats including print, DVDs, online services, games, TV and film. In the initial phase, the focus of the company was three-fold. First, the company wanted to increase the

9

availability of print and digital products across all the 500 retail stores that already had partnership with ACK Media and stocked their various offerings. Second, it wanted to penetrate the market using new and better media including new online services, an online store and innovative destination sites. Finally, the third objective was to license and co-develop proprietary content for films, TV, mobile and other emerging formats. In 2007, ACK Media created a new online store that offered all the titles for shipping worldwide. The site categorized the titles as Fables & Folktales, Mythology, The Epics, Humor and Wit, Biographies, Literary Classics, 3 in 1 Titles, 5 in 1 Titles and Special Issues. In August, 2008, the Tinkle website was developed. Animating content was started by ACK Media from Tinkle. On September 2008, ACK Media launched a website for Amar Chitra Katha as amarchitrakatha.com (Refer Exhibit XII for snapshot of website). The focus changed from selling the comics to book stores to retailing the comics. There were reports of ACK Media coming up with IPO within the next 12-18 months. A General Entertainment Channel (GEC), launch was supposed to be funded from the earnings of the IPO requiring an investment of INR 100 crore.17 But before that, the company wanted to retain the Intellectual Property Rights for the animation, so it decided to produce content for DTH and Home Video. The company acquired Bangalore based Quitemen Studio, to focus on gaming and had plans to set up an animation studio in Mumbai. To generate hype in the market about the animated offerings of ACK, the company uploaded sneak peaks of characters like Shikari Shambu18 and Suppandi19 on YouTube. A new content and a new character were also introduced in Tinkle: a 12 year old girl called Nina, and her adventures. Later on, ACK made statements regarding the production of mobile games and web content around Nina. We made it more modern. Kids will be able to relate to the games,20 said Animator Savio Mascerenas. However, the company maintained that it will not change the inherent spirit of fun and Indianness. In October 2009, there were reports that the character Suppandi from Tinkle was making headways to the silver screen. ACK Media was supposed to produce a stereoscopic threedimensional (3D) animation film, with Suppandi as the main character with a budget of about INR 10 crore. The film initial launch date was November 2010. At around the same time, ACK launched the Junior Series for children in the age grow of 4-6 years and 6-8 years were launched. In this initiative, junior version of the popular characters such as Shikari Shambu and Suppandi were developed much in the same way as in there was Junior Archie and Junior Disney Characters. This was done to increase the appeal of the brand among the segment which has just learned to read. Between 1991 and 2008 ACK was surviving on mostly reprinted earlier issues. The only difference which came with time was the enhanced quality of paper and print. By 2008, the

17 18

ACK Media to launch Amar Chitra Katha website, http://www.medianama.com, Aug 6, 2008. Shikari (means Hunter) Shambu is a timid and lazy hunter whom the rest of the world perceives as brave and powerful hunter. Most of the times he tries to run away from danger, but due to some stroke of chance always end up as a hero. 19 Suppandi is a village simpleton who works mostly as a household help. But he always lands himself and others in trouble because of his insistence on thinking for himself, than being dictated by the orders of his master. 20 Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle to entertain kids on Net, By Hindol Sengupta, CNN-IBN, Jan 27, 2008. Available at http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-and-tinkle-to-entertain-kids-on-internet/57468-11-16.html?xml, on June 25, 2011.

10

series consisted of 244 unique issues. These 244 issues were mostly republications from the original series, and included only five new titles. During the same period ACK also published a number of special issues, all but one a combination of earlier single issues. Two of the brand new special issues were Bhagwat - The Krishna Avatar and Ram Charita Manas which were never published earlier. In August 2010 after a gap of four years, ACK Media launched a new title called Mother Teresa: Little Acts of Love to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Mother Teresa21. The issue was priced at INR 40 (Refer Exhibit XIII for a snapshot of the Issue). Mother Teresa was chosen as our come-back title because of the universality of her personality,22 said Savita Pai (Savita), VP, ACK Media as a justification behind the issue. DIGITIZING ACK MEDIA Amar Chitra Katha could achieve more access through online stores and mobile phones because of digitalization. ACK-Media partnered with iRemedi Corp.23 of Atlanta in mid 2009 to provide readers with iPhone and iPad platforms for reading Amar Chitra Katha comics on iRemedis ETHER MEDIA24 viewer solution. Apples iTunes Appstore stored the popular ACK titles. Most titles were made available for purchase at $1.99 along with free previews to some titles as well. The reason for digitalization was the changing time as explained by Pai, We have to move with the times, Children should be taught these issues from a young age with a medium they appreciate, Amar Chitra Katha earned me a lot of respect, and Tinkle brought me a profusion of love from children.25 Pai wanted the comics to increase curiosity in the minds of children and dilute all the superstitions. Patil informed about the benefit of such a move in the launch, We are very excited to launch Amar Chitra Katha on iPhone for the International audience. ACK has enthralled millions of people from diverse culture and generations over the past four decades worldwide. With this launch of a wide range of Amar Chitra Katha comics we have taken an important step towards bringing the world of Indian storytelling to the iPhone community. In addition to comics we are looking at creating new applications and games for this platform.26 Similar views were aired by Sridhar Bhat (Bhat), the CEO and Founder of iRemedi Corp, This is a historic moment for both

Mother Teresa (26 August 1910 5 September 1997), was born as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Albania. A Catholic nun with an Indian citizenship, she founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950. She had spearheaded service to the poor, sick, orphaned through the Missionaries of Charity's and was receipinet of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II and conferred the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta following her demise. 22 Love revives Indian comics: Mother Teresa brought to life in Amar Chitra Katha after four years, by Jayanthi Madhukar, August 20, 2010. Bangalore Mirror, Available at http://www.bangaloremirror.com/printarticle.aspx?page=comments&action=translate&sectid=31&contentid=20100 82020100820195659472953d1b10&subsite= 23 iRemedi Corp was founded by veterans from Oracle and is based in Atlanta as on 2011. The company is an Apple approved developers for the iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. They also have partnership with major media companies worldwide in iPhone based publishing. 24 ETHERMEDIA is a propreitary framework from iRemedi Corp. and is used to build interactive media applications for mobile content delivery. ETHERMEDIA application features enable a rich media presentation in a user friendly and interactive format on the iPhone and iPod devices. 25 Tinkle Celebrates, by V. Gangadhar, May 22, 2004. Available at http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/yw/2004/05/22/stories/2004052200010100.htm on June 25, 2011. 26 Now Amar Chitra Katha is available on iPhone, iPods. Business Standard, June 3, 2009, Available at http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/now-amar-chitra-katha-is-availableiphone-ipods/63591/on on June 25, 2011.
21

11

ACK and iRemedi. we are confident ACKs fans will share our excitement in enjoying ACK comics on the go. For ACK this is a key milestone in bringing the classical Indian mythology and rich culture to the global community instantly in the amazing user experience with iPhones. The iPhones revolutionary platform brings limitless avenues for various dreams to become.27 After Amar Chitra Katha exchanged hands with Samir Patil, a new life to Amar Chitra Katha was imparted by entering on the Internet, TV and print with new ideas. Shikari Shambu, the bumbling hunter of countless Tinkle adventures, came live on the Internet. Suppandi, the simpleton was imparted an upgraded new look. We see a lot of possibilities in terms of Amar Chitra Katha extensions for television, especially shows,28 said Patil in an interview. The company started coming up with online games, Television serials, new characters and even movies based on Amar Chitra Katha series. The reinvention would have an estimated cost around 15-20 million dollars spread over two years. ROAD AHEAD By early 2011 Amar Chitra Katha was available through number of media: comics, childrens books, magazines, videotape, DVDs/VCDs (Refer Exhibit XIV for examples of some DVD Issues from ACK). ACK was also present at all major book retailers, small bookstores, and vendors. It was one of the best-selling childrens publications in the early 2011. It had sold over 100 million copies of about 440 titles till February 2011 and was selling three million comic books a year according to ACK Media. As the series has progressed, it had been accused of offering more attention to few aspects of Indian history and favor to some of its readers than others. Many communities argued to be represented poorly in comics. Amar Chitra Katha had stood to its own proclaimed standards. The book, The Classic Popular Amar Chitra Katha, 1967-2007 alleged that the comic books were having a hidden agenda towards the propagation of Hindu communalism. The series was also alleged to have pro-Brahministic ideologies. Keeping that aside for the time being, the most important challenge ACK faced was that of the multimedia environment. Being a new player in the digital world, it had to face competition from the established ones as well as leaders in their own product categories such as online games and online books. Moreover, the Indian marketplace had changed vastly over the last 30 odd years. The leisure activities of the children have changed drastically and they have a lot more options compared to their counterparts in the 1970 and 1980s. The liberalization of the Indian economy had brought in an influx of western comics and Indian tie-ups with western brands like DC and Marvel comics to publish western titles at Indian prices. The type of stories that kids loved to read have also changed vastly from mythology to mystery and adventure, according to survey findings. To add to all the issues, the visionary behind Amar Chitra Katha was no more. Thus, it would be a tough task ahead of ACK to emerge as a winner and hold up to its essence which was, to educate and influence, rather than to delight and entertain.

27

Amar Chitra Katha now on iPhone and iPod, June 9, 2009, Available at http://comicrelated.com/news/1778/ackon-iphone on June 25, 2011. 28 Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle to entertain kids on Net, By Hindol Sengupta, CNN-IBN, Jan 27, 2008. Available at http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-and-tinkle-to-entertain-kids-on-internet/57468-11-16.html?xml, on June 25, 2011.

12

Exhibit I: A Note on Anant Pai

Anant Pai was a renowned educationalist and mind behind the Indian comics, particularly Amar Chitra Katha series. Mr. Pai, started his career with The Times of India, quit his job to start the Amar Chitra Katha along with the India Book House publishers. In 1969 Pai started Rang Rekha Features, Indias first comic book and cartoon syndicate. Later in his career in 1980 he launched Tinkle under Rang Rekha Features, which included the lovable characters Suppandi, a dimwitted personality, Tantri the Mantri, a scheming royal adviser, and the hunter Shikari Shambhu. Affectionately, he was also called as Uncle Pai by kids as he signed handwritten letters to his young fans as Uncle Pai. He was born in Karkala, Karnataka to parents Venkataraya and Susheela Pai. After losing his parents, he moved to Mumbai at the 12 and studied in Orient School, Mahim. He studied at the University of Bombay, Department of Chemical Technology (now UICT) and was a dual degree holder from the University of Bombay. Pai also authored a number of books on personality development for children and teenagers. He also launched a series of audio book versions of Amar Chitra Katha stories, playing the role of narrator-storyteller. He was working on a project, Glimpses of Glory, book which includes travelling exhibition and 40 defining moments from Indian history. The book will be in print soon according to the spokeswoman for ACK media. He was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the comic books convention held in New Delhi. He is survived by his wife Lalitha.
Source: Complied from different sources.

13

Exhibit II. The First Issue of Amar Chitra Katha

Source: http://www.silkqin.com/13pers/pics/ack011.jpg

Exhibit III. The Amar Chitra Katha Logo

Source: http://cuttingthechai.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/amar-chitra-katha-logo.jpg?w=150

14

Exhibit IV. One of the First Advertisement of Amar Chitra Katha (Multilingual)

Source: http://www.silkqin.com/13pers/pics/ack1to10.jpg

15

Exhibit V: Titles available under Amar Chitra Katha in 1986 Genre of Titles Mythology Sanskrit Classics Folk Tales and Legends Teachers and Saints Buddhist Tales Tales form Ancient Indian History Regional Classics Great Women of India Makers of Modern India The Mughals and their Adversaries The Sikhs The Rajputs Poets and Musicians Jaina Tales The Marathas Tales from Medieval Indian History The Indian Revolutionaries Glimpses of 1857 Scientists and Doctors Monuments and Battles Heroes who fought the British Total
Source: Compiled from different sources.

Number of Titles 90 12 56 27 24 14 13 13 13 10 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 2 329

16

Exhibit VIA: First Issue of Tinkle

Source: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Hp_w4URX2Ko/SlC_S1IXNpI/AAAAAAAADvQ/Q_DlpEU-rPM/Tinkle%20No1%5B6%5D.jpg

17

Exhibit VIB: A Note on Tinkle According to Pai, he named the magazine Tinkle because every time we held a meeting to decide the name of the magazine, the telephone tinkled. So that was the obvious choice. The winner of the Amar Chitra Katha story telling contest eight year old Elaine DLima launched the first issue of the magazine. The magazine contains comics, puzzles, quizzes, contests and other features targeted at school children. It is published in English and translated in many Indian languages. Tinkle comes in three formats: Tinkle Magazine, Tinkle Digest and Tinkle Double Digest. Tinkle magazine is a monthly magazine for kids. It includes new stories, contests, new articles (labeled as Tinkle Times), It Happened to Me section wherein readers send in their true life incidents, Rhythm and Hues where readers send in their original poetry and artworks and You Be The Detective where readers are suppose to solve cases. Tinkle Digest contains past issues stories from Tinkle and Tinkle Double Digest has twice the number of pages than Tinkle Digest. The Tinkle website www.Tinkleonline.com was launched before the website for Amar Chitra Katha. The Tagline for Tinkle is where learning meets fun, clearly positioning it as a magazine which combines information/knowledge with fun. The site contains following tabs Create your avatar, Meet friends and Exchange cards. The Amar Chitra Katha website also offers readers buying option for Tinkle with various other formats including the three earlier formats viz.- Tinkle Special, Tinkle Holiday Special, Tinkle Junior Animation, Tinkle Pre-Schooler, Tinkle Time Compass, Tinkle Toddler, Tinkle Treasure.

Exhibit VIC: Some Stand Alone Characters in TINKLE.

Character Ajay The Detective Anwar Chaman Charlie Kalia the Crow Kapish Nasruddin Hodja Pyarelal Ramu and Shamu Shikari Shambu Description Ajay is a kid detective who helps solve mind baffling crimes with tiny clues. Anecdotes of a mischievous kid very similar to Dennis The Menace Indian version of Charlie Chaplin where funny stories come along with a social message. Kalia is an intelligent crow who foils the plans of nasty Chamataka (Jackal) and Doob-doob (Crocodile) to kill the animals of the jungle and eat them. Kapish is a monkey which saves his friends from danger using his skills and intelligence. Similar to Kalia the Crow. Legendary anecdotes of the middle eastern wit Nasruddin Hodja Chronicles of a village simpleton (Pyarelal) and his wife Lajoo Short tales of mischief of twin brothers Ramu and Shamu Shambu is a dimwitted and timid hunter who is usually hired by villagers or zoo officials to capture an escaped or lost animal. Shambu is scared of wild animals but always manages to capture the said animals out of pure chance. Short stories of an incompetent and dim-witted boy whose activities create embarrassment and trouble for his employers. Tantri is a cunning minister who is always plotting to get rid of the king Hooja but always falls into his own trap. Similar to stories of Iznogoud. Tales of three friends Nattu, Dattu and Motu and their adventures

Suppandi Tantri the Mantri The Dumbbells

Source: Collected From Different Online Sources

18

Exhibit VII. Early Advertisements of Amar Chitra Katha in The Back Cover of Issues

Source: Collected From Different Online Sources

19

Exhibit VIII. Product Advertisements Published in Amar Chitra Katha

Source: Collected From Different Online Sources

20

Exhibit IX. Advertisement of Amar Chitra Katha Narrated LP Records

Source: www.pyareetoons.com

21

Types of Books Single Volumes 3 in 1 Bundles Bumper Issues 5 in 1 Bundles Special Editions

Exhibit X: Types of Books from ACK Examples The Pandavas in Hiding The Prophecy & other stories Jesus Christ Brave Women of India Mahabharata (3 vol. hardbound set)

Approx Price 40 INR 100 INR 100 INR 240 INR 1250 INR

Single Issue

3 in 1 Bundle

Bumper Issue

5 in 1 Bundle

Special Edition

Source: Created from information from www.amarchitrakatha.com and other online sources.

22

Exhibit XIA. Trend of TV Penetration in India

Source: Indias Pay TV Market (2000-2013) Report by Screen Digest. http://www.screendigest.com/press/releases/pdf/PR-IndianpayTV-170909.pdf

Exhibit XIB. Trend of Internet Penetration in India

80 70 60 Internet Users (millions) 50 40 30 20 10 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Source: Created by authors from data published by The World Bank

23

Exhibit XII: Snapshot from Amar Chitra Katha Website

Source: http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/

24

Exhibit XIII: The new Title by Amar Chitra Katha

Source: http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/best-deals/mother-teresa

25

Exhibit XIV: Amar Chitra Katha CDs\DVDs

Source: Complied from http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/products/ACK-Animation

26

REFERENCE Barth, N. (2008). India Book House and Amar Chitra Katha (1970-2002). (Non-English). Accessed from http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-wuerzburg/volltexte/2008/2789 on May 25, 2011. Bajaj, V. (July 19, 2009). In India, New Life for Comic Books as TV Cartoons. The New York Times, [Online]. Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/business/global/20comics.html?pagewanted=all on September 10, 2011. Bharrati, A. (2007, December). Interview with ACK Media CEO Samir Patil. Interview with ACK Media CEO Samir Patil. animationxpress.com, Accessed from

http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=2305 on Spetember 10, 2011. Businessline, (2007, November). ACK Media buys Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle brands. The Hindu Businessline, Accessed from http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2007/11/22/stories/2007112250170500.htm on May 17, 2011. Chandra, N. (2008). The Classic Popular Amar Chitra Katha (1967-2007). Yoda Press: India. Express News Service. (2008, August). Internet has hampered the reading habits of children. Expressindia.com, Accessed from http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/internet-hashampered-the-reading-habits-of-students/353890/ on May 29, 2011. Gangadhar, V. (2004, May). Tinkle Celebrates, The Hindu, Accessed from

http://www.hindu.com/yw/2004/05/22/stories/2004052200010100.htm on May 25, 2011. Godbole, P. (2009, October). Amar Chitra Katha cartoon strip Suppandi to become a movie, The Business Standard, Accessed from http://www.business-

standard.com/india/news/amar-chitra-katha-cartoon-strip-suppandi-tobecomemovie/372208/ on May 25, 2011. Kumar, M. (2003). Todays Comic Culture in India. ABD, 34 (1), 6-7. Madhukar, J. (2010, August). Love revives Indian comics: Mother Teresa brought to life in Amar Chitra Katha after four years. BangaloreMirror.com, Accessed from

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article&sectname=Entertainment%20 -%20Etc&sectid=31&contentid=2010082020100820195659472953d1b10 on May 28, 2011.

27

Mahaldar, M. (2009, August). Amar Chitra Katha to make its TV debut soon, CNN-IBN, Accessed from http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-to-make-its-tv-debut-

soon/99031-8.html?from=rssfeed on May 29, 2011. Malaviya, R. (2006). A Survey of Reading Habits of School Going Children in Delhi City. Paper presented at the IBBY Congress 2006 (September), Macau, China. Newswire7, (2009, June). ACK Media partners iRemedi for content delivery on iPhone. Accessed from http://www.medianewsline.com/news/139/ARTICLE/4626/2009-06-

02.html on May 29, 2011. Pahwa, N. (2008, August). ACK Media to Launch Amar Chitra Katha Site; Nina; Eyes GEC Space, and Maybe an IPO. Medianama.com, Accessed from http://www.medianama.com/2008/08/223-ack-media-to-launch-amar-chitra-katha-sitenina-eyes-gec-space-and-maybe-an-ipo/ on May 25, 2011. Pahwa, N. (2008, September). ACK Media launches amarchitrakatha.com, Medianama.com, Accessed from http://www.medianama.com/2008/09/223-ack-media-launches-

amarchitrakathacom/ on May 25, 2011. Pritchett, F. W. (1997). The World of Amar Chitra Katha in Media and the transformation of religion in South Asia, eds. Laurence A. Babb and Susan S. Wadley. (ch 4). First Indian Edition, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd: New Delhi, 76-106. Sahni, D. (2011, February). Amar Chitra Katha creator dies at 81, The Wall Street Journal, Accessed from http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/02/25/amar-chitra-kathas-creatordies-at-81/?mod=google_news_blog on May 15, 2011. Screen Digest. (2009). Indias Pay TV Market (2000-2013) Report by Screen Digest. Accessed from http://www.screendigest.com/press/releases/pdf/PR-IndianpayTV-170909.pdf on

May 20, 2011. Sengupta, H. (2008, January). Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle to Entertain kids on Net. ibnline.in.com, Accessed from http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amar-chitra-katha-tinkle-toentertain-kids-on-net/57468-11.html on May 25, 2011. Singh, V. (2009, October). Now Amar Chitra Katha gets even younger, Indiatimes.com, Accessed from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Now-Amar-Chitra-

Katha-gets-even-younger/articleshow/5129055.cms on May 15, 2011.

28

Whistling Woods International, (2009, March). Excerpts from a 2009 video interview with the father of Indian comics, Uncle Pai, shot for a documentary on Indian comics history. Accessed from http://whistlingwoodsinternational.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/excerptsfrom-a-2009-video-interview-with-the-father-of-indian-comics-uncle-pai-shot-for-adocumentary-on-indian-comics-history/ on May 29, 2011.

Web References http://www.ack-media.com/ http://www.diamondcomic.com/ http://www.tinkle.com/ http://data.worldbank.org/country/india

29