Graphic exposé of the City of Joy
From depicting its world-famous sweet shops to Satyajit Ray’s influence on Bengali films, Harsho Mohan Chattoraj ’s Kolkata Kaleidoscope is a labour of love
For most, Kolkata is nothing more than a city overcome with age. Tired, grey and plagued by urban decay, Kolkata, for the newly introduced, is remarkably average. But for anyone who has spent years getting to know the lanes and bylanes that snake through the city’s soul, they realise that she has many faces — the coquettish tease, the indomitable rebel, the shy youngster, the exuberant performer. In every nook and corner of her being, she has stories waiting to be discovered; stories of a glorious past — a cultural heritage that can be traced back to several decades. And the best way to introduce her to someone who hasn’t had an encounter with this chaotic city, is to take them on a tour of sites and people intrinsic to Kolkata via Harsho Mohan Chattoraj’s latest graphic novel Kolkata Kaleidoscope.
Published by Speech Bubble Entertainment, a relatively new Kolkata-based publishing house, Kolkata Kaleidoscope is nothing like the other series they run — most, about a sleuth who is also a tantrik (Taranath Tantrik explores a fictional side of Kolkata — where a strange plague is turning innocents into bloodthirsty zombies). But with the publication of Kolkata Kaleidoscope, they ventured into non-fiction graphic novels, leading readers to believe that there will be more variety from them in the future.
Talking about their latest release, Prabuddha Neogi, co-founder of Speech Bubble Entertainment, says, “For us tags like fiction and non-fiction do not matter. What matters is good work. And Harsho’s take on Kolkata was a story people needed to read. The kind of intricacies he has brought to life are remarkable,” he concludes.
Written and illustrated by Chattoraj, the 60-page graphic novel has 10 chapters — each representing what Chattoraj believes to be an essential part of the city. While one chapter captures how artisans bring Durga idols to life in Kumortuli, another illustrates Satyajit Ray’s influence on the film industry in Bengal. Then there are the sweet shops that line every nook and corner of the city and, of course, a tour of Eden Gardens.
But that’s not all. Starting from the cemeteries of the city and ending with the roadside barbers, Chattoraj has taken the pain to portray the relatively-unknown side of Kolkata as well. “I started work on this about two years ago,” he says. Having spent his life observing the city closely, he felt it was time to use all that he observed to create the perfect graphic tribute. “Kolkata is really not just about the places,” he says. “It is about the people who have made it what it is, and of course, it is about memories too.”
While the artwork is exquisite, the writing and certain technicalities (such as the font and layout) keep it from being perfect. But that’s not reason enough to love it any less.
The author is the co-founder of StripTease the Mag, a magazine about comics and graphic novels from all over the world.
For most, Kolkata is nothing more than a city overcome with age. Tired, grey and plagued by urban decay, Kolkata, for the newly introduced, is remarkably average. But for anyone who has spent years getting to know the lanes and bylanes that snake through the city’s soul, they realise that she has many faces — the coquettish tease, the indomitable rebel, the shy youngster, the exuberant performer. In every nook and corner of her being, she has stories waiting to be discovered; stories of a glorious past — a cultural heritage that can be traced back to several decades. And the best way to introduce her to someone who hasn’t had an encounter with this chaotic city, is to take them on a tour of sites and people intrinsic to Kolkata via Harsho Mohan Chattoraj’s latest graphic novel Kolkata Kaleidoscope.
Published by Speech Bubble Entertainment, a relatively new Kolkata-based publishing house, Kolkata Kaleidoscope is nothing like the other series they run — most, about a sleuth who is also a tantrik (Taranath Tantrik explores a fictional side of Kolkata — where a strange plague is turning innocents into bloodthirsty zombies). But with the publication of Kolkata Kaleidoscope, they ventured into non-fiction graphic novels, leading readers to believe that there will be more variety from them in the future.
Talking about their latest release, Prabuddha Neogi, co-founder of Speech Bubble Entertainment, says, “For us tags like fiction and non-fiction do not matter. What matters is good work. And Harsho’s take on Kolkata was a story people needed to read. The kind of intricacies he has brought to life are remarkable,” he concludes.
Written and illustrated by Chattoraj, the 60-page graphic novel has 10 chapters — each representing what Chattoraj believes to be an essential part of the city. While one chapter captures how artisans bring Durga idols to life in Kumortuli, another illustrates Satyajit Ray’s influence on the film industry in Bengal. Then there are the sweet shops that line every nook and corner of the city and, of course, a tour of Eden Gardens.
But that’s not all. Starting from the cemeteries of the city and ending with the roadside barbers, Chattoraj has taken the pain to portray the relatively-unknown side of Kolkata as well. “I started work on this about two years ago,” he says. Having spent his life observing the city closely, he felt it was time to use all that he observed to create the perfect graphic tribute. “Kolkata is really not just about the places,” he says. “It is about the people who have made it what it is, and of course, it is about memories too.”
While the artwork is exquisite, the writing and certain technicalities (such as the font and layout) keep it from being perfect. But that’s not reason enough to love it any less.
The author is the co-founder of StripTease the Mag, a magazine about comics and graphic novels from all over the world.
