Karan Vir Arora, Founder-Comics Expert,Vimanika Edutainment Pvt Ltd

In a global industry dominated by the US, Japan and France, an Indian publisher is faced with the challenge of entering a field that is rather limited in the country. Though the Indian comics industry is considered to be around 60 years old, with about one million copies being published every year, indigenous characters are yet to grab the attention that their counterparts in other countries have.Entering such uncharted territory, one young and vibrant entrepreneur decided to launch an Indian comics company on the lines of international giants like DC Comics, Marvel Comics and Dark Horse Comics. With thoughts revolving around the superheroes of DC and Marvel, and the courageous exploits of Vishnu, Hanuman and Krishna, Karan Vir Arora founded Vimanika Edutainment Pvt Ltd.

Vimanika is steeped in Indian mythology, but the tales are contemporised, says Arora, the managing director and editor-in-chief of Vimanika Comics. His father was a builder and wanted him to join his family’s business, but Arora wanted to carve a unique path.

“It wasn’t the paucity of Indian comics firms that propelled me to start this venture. I had a three-point agenda: firstly, educating the youth around the world about Indian culture, heritage and spiritual values. There was also the need to share the art of narration and visualisation with the world. And third: I wanted these graphic novels to be created into live-action and animated films like Superman and Batman,” he says.

The stories and characters in the comics and graphic novels created by Vimanika are based on Indian mythology, but the aim is to popularise the tales of forgotten heroes and also glorify the popular ones. “The past generations become part of myth, and this myth must not be allowed to disappear,” says Arora. The characters portray different virtues and each story has a moral, combining education and entertainment.

With more than seven years’ experience in the training industry, Arora wanted to bring to life the stories and characters created by his publication house though animated and action films, merchandising, theme parks etc. “I have been personally researching Indian mythology. At Vimanika, we have an esteemed panel of researchers and historians to check the authenticity of the content. Historical events that have created an impact, especially those that exemplify individual courage, are given due credit,” he says.

Vimanika has in its employ award-winning artists and international editors, as well as a team of archaeologists, researchers and journalists who work with Arora in ensuring the historical and cultural authenticity of the comics and graphics novels. Till date, the firm has published three titles: ‘The Sixth — The Legend of Karna, Moksha and Dashaavatar’.

Arora, a Mumbai-based comics expert, is the writer, publisher as well as conceptual director of Vimanika Comics, which is the first Indian publisher with a presence in the US. A source of edutainment, Vimanika won the Comics Xpress Award at the Golden Cursor awards of CNBC-TV18, for the ‘best comics in India’ in 2009. Vimanika has several innovative projects in the pipeline, and its comics have reached the US, UK and Norway, giving readers an Indian feel in terms of content and artwork — an effort that YourStory heartily commends.

With the creative freedom that Vimanika allows Arora, an comics expert par excellence can address many issues that require immediate attention, such as those involving wildlife and the environment, in his work. “We introduced White Tiger in ‘Moksha…’, thus portraying the importance of the rare animals. Our comics are a complete package of drama, emotion, action and spirituality, through state-of-the-art story and artwork that redefines fantasy,” he says.

YourStory wishes Karan Vir Arora loads of success in his entrepreneurial journey and hope to read all the upcoming comics from Vimanika.