When Minnal Murali directed by Basil Joseph released on Netflix in December 2021, it was Malayalam cinema’s first superhero film. And now, another first for Minnal Murali is that he is the hero of the first graphic novel brought out by Tinkle Comics under a new imprint, Tinkle Comics Studio. Which makes him the first Malayali superhero to get his own graphic novel. Minnal Murali Strikes Again was launched at the recently-concluded Mumbai Comic Con.
“It will soon be available on stands,” says Gayathri Chandrasekaran, editor in chief, Tinkle Comics. The novel has been brought out, in association, with actor Rana Daggubati’s VFX and production company, Spirit Media. The actor, who is an investor in Amar Chitra Katha and acquired the rights of the film, mooted the idea of a comic in Tinkle about Minnal Murali. “As small, episodic stories that came out on a regular frequency. Upon discussions, also with the producers of the film, Weekend Blockbusters, we thought of creating a longer storyline that takes off where the movie ends,” she adds.
The setting is the same, Kurukkanmoola, the village where the action takes place; the story is different. While some of the key characters from the original such as Bruce Lee Biji and Josemon have been retained, a few new ones have been added. The most notable is the female arch villain, Betty, who Minnal Murali takes on. For those who have seen Minnal Murali the ‘Minnal universe’ will be familiar, but the graphic novel has been designed to be accessible to first timers as well.
This is Tinkle Comics’ first graphic novel and it demanded a shift in mindset in terms of creativity as a graphic novel is a longer format in comparison to the short, comic book. “We had been wanting to do something like this, but due to the everyday running of the magazine, we never found the time,” says Gayathri discussing venturing into the graphic novel segment.
The process was collaborative, Gayathri adds. “We held discussions with the producers of the film, since they are the creators of the character, about the idea and the storyline. We wanted to know what they were looking at.” The makers of the film were on board with how the novel developed. The story was developed by the creative team of Tinkle Comics Studio and the script is by Shreya Ghosh.
Vineet Nair, Art Director (Tinkle), and the illustrator is excited about having been part of the process of creating this version of Minnal Murali, calling it a ‘dream come true.’ “It is not everyday that you get to work on a character that has a lead role in a film,” Vineet says. The colourist is Sachin Adhare.
Having worked with Tinkle for 12 years, he is the character designer and illustrator of two popular Tinkle comic series, WingStar and YogYodhas. WingStar is India’s first female superhero from the north east; YogYodhas are warriors of the spirit who invoke praanis by practising yoga and save the world. He says that though he is more comfortable with a cartoon art style, he had to tweak it for Minnal Murali. Whilst the graphic novel, published by Tinkle Comics Studio, is for kids, it targets a mature audience as well, so Vineet needed a style that was mature with a tilt toward the realistic.
Though Vineet rewatched the film as reference, he was careful not to make the comic character an exact lookalike of the film’s Murali aka Tovino Thomas. The inputs on how he should look evolved over discussions with the team. The character had to be illustrated in such a way that the look went with the story without compromising on the storytelling. A challenge for Vineet, who is used to illustrating shorter comics, was keeping the art style consistent throughout. “Usually a comic I illustrate would have six to eight pages, unlike a graphic novel which has more,” he says.
The 64-page graphic novel, priced at ₹299, also has stills from the film, the story board and interviews with those involved in the making of the film.
