abid@bahadur.in

National Award-winning author Aabid Surti has won critical acclaim for multiple creative talents. The list of his creative accomplishments befits half a dozen people rather than one individual.
As an author his output has been prolific, his oeuvre spanning fiction as well as non-fiction, travelogue as well as children’s literature. He has written around 80 books till date, which have been translated into almost every Indian language.

As a screenwriter he has been associated with directors like Raj Khosla and Raj Kapoor on film projects and as a playwright, he has penned seven plays. An accomplished painter, he has held 16 exhibitions in India and abroad. In his early years, he invented an innovative technique called ‘mirror collage’ which won critical acclaim in Japan. In 1971, the Indian government commissioned a short film to showcase his creative work.As a cartoonist, he created the lovable simpleton ‘Dabbuji’. The highly original and popular cartoon strip has been one of the longest-running comic strips in India, running without a break for over 30 years. Reprints of the original series continue to entertain millions in various languages. Dabbuji’s fan following includes Ex Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, singer Asha Bhosle and Osho.

Aabid has also created another popular comic book character, ‘Bahadur’, which achieved cult status in the 1970s. In 1993, the Indian government conferred a National Award upon him. He lives in a quiet suburb of Mumbai and continues to explore painting, writing and meditation.

pramod@bahadur.in

The illustrator of the first Indian comic book superhero ‘BAHADUR’, Govind Brahmania will always be remembered by all his fans and admirers around the world. ‘Govindji’ as his colleagues and friends used to call him, started his journey of art from childhood.
He graduated from Sir J.J. School of Arts in 1964.

Though being a shy and humble person, his talent couldn't be hidden for long. His first job was at the Indrajaal comics department in The times of India as an illustrator. Destiny brought Aabid Surti and Govind Brahmania together to create history in the form of ‘SHUJA’ and ‘BAHADUR’. First Shuja and then Bahadur instantly became popular among the masses and continue to be so even today. After Times of India, Govindji joined Interpublicity and later on moved to Everest Advertising, where he worked till he was sixty six. His illustrations accompanied the stories of literally all eminent gujarati writers. His illustrations featuring in Chitralekha magazine made him a family member of every Gujarati household.

He was and always will be a source of inspiration and guru to many young illustrators as well as his two sons Vinay and Pramod who are well known professionals in the advertising field today. He won a national award for illustrations made for fairy tale books. Drawing for children books was his love and he would do it even if he got meagerly paid for it. He will always remain in the heart of every Indian comics fan in the form of Bahadur.

pramod@bahadur.in

Living up to a family tradition is not an easy task, you can ask Pramod Brahmania about that, who belongs to a family of eminent advertising professionals and illustrators. Being always compared to his elders, it took him some time to live up to their name and to carve out a niche for himself in the field of illustration. Such was his progress that he almost joined advertising even before completing graduation in advertising from Sir J.J Insitute of Applied Arts.

After graduation, he joined Leo Burnett in 1989 as a trainee and is still working there as a senior illustrator. Being an ardent comic fan, what more could you ask for when comics started being created at his very home by none other than his father, Mr. Govind Brahmania and Shri Aabid Surti in the form of ‘Bahadur' who instantly became his favorite comic book hero. His main sources of inspiration continue to be his father Govind Brahmania, S.M Pandit and Boris Vallejo. It was like a dream come true when Aabid Surti contacted him for recreating Bahadur comics. Desperate to enter the world of comics, he now got a golden chance to draw and make alive his favorite comic character ‘Bahadur’ who still has a huge fan following.