Mathures Paul

Mathures Paul meets cartoonist Mangesh Tendulkar Proud of his creations, Mangesh Tendulkar walks around Tilak Hall in Maharastra Nivas explaining to visitors the power of cartoons. An opposite of his renowned playwright brother Vijay Tendulkar, 70-year-old Mangesh is in town to host his first exhibition. You have read much about Anant Pai and RK Laxman. Their contribution to Indian comics and cartoons is immense. But that of Tendulkar is equally important. He is a master in the art of single frames. He doesn’t enjoy the advantage of white space that exists between panels in a comic book. Much can happen between frames — Superman might die, Hagar give up drinking and Charlie Brown win a baseball match. Tendulkar has to tell his story with a single picture and that too without a bubble. “Words make the frame weak. To tell a story without words is difficult,” says the cartoonist. The last time he was in Kolkata was in 1976-77. “Kolkata has allowed me to enjoy great music, poetry, film and...

With Indian politicians at work, editorial cartoonists have a bright future, feels Shekhar Gurera. Mathures Paul sketches his experiences While depicting social ills, his pencil earned him several awards. Always making a social or political comment, the winner of Saitama’s Humour Photo Contest (2002), Best Cartoon Award (1990) and Best Cartoonist Award (1992), cartoonist Shekhar Gurera’s humble beginnings won many a heart. “In fact, I was a science student. After completing my BSc from Patiala in 1986, I was studying MCA. But instinct made me switch over to the arts. Thereafter I took admission in BFA in College of Arts (on the basis of the medals and certificates I won while participating in co-curricular activities at the national level). When I was in the first year of BFA, I began my career as a freelance cartoonist. By the time I graduated from BFA, I was an established name in the world of cartoons. By that time I had my page one column in four or five daily newspapers in various...

Born on a farm and afflicted with asthma, Jim Davis took to cat doodles to while away the time ~ and the rest is history, writes Mathures Paul HE eats too much because he’s depressed. And he’s depressed because he eats too much. It took Garfield years to perfect the vicious circle! Born on 19 June 1978, Jim Davis’ humorous strip is centered round the life of a fat, lazy, cynical orange cat who loves lasagne, coffee, the television remote control, the suffering of his owner Jon Arbuckle and the other house pet, Odie. And nothing has changed in the past 28-odd years. “I always say Garfield is a human in a cat suit. Garfield deals with two subjects that are universal — eating and sleeping. We all eat and we all sleep (with any luck). He’s also an anti-hero. He does everything we humans would like to do if we could get away with it,” says Jim Davis in an exclusive interview to The Statesman. Davis’ upbringing charted out his future. His parents, James and Betty Davis, had a farm which, lik...