Comics Fest India (previously known as Nagraj Janmotsav) was a comic-based convention held in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, annually at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. The event began as an annual birthday celebration for

Nagraj Nagraj is a superhero appearing in Indian comic books published by Raj Comics created in the late 1980s by Rajkumar Gupta. Nagraj first appeared in the comics Nagraj GENL #14 which was written by Parshuram Sharma and illustrated by Pratap Mul ...

. But the increasing number of fans and participants made the event grow larger every year, and soon the event sprang out of the Raj Comics studios (where it started) and was held at

Dilli Haat Dilli Haat is a paid-entrance open-air market, food plaza, and craft bazaar located in Delhi. The area is run by Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), and unlike the traditional weekly market, the village Haat, D ...

Pitampura Pitampura is an upscale residential area in North Delhi district of Delhi, India. It is located adjacent to Rohini. Pitampura is an upscale and affluent locality, in the North West Delhi district of Delhi, India. Property rates of Pitampura are ...

. The event is popular for being the only convention in India that provides free gifts (including T-shirts, comic books and merchandise) to all the registered attendees. Now it is the second annual comic book convention in New Delhi, after

Comic Con India Comic Con India (CCI) is a series of annual comic-based conventions held in India. The first edition was held in New Delhi in 2011 and over the years has expanded to other major cities in India such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahm ...

History

In 2008,

Raj Comics Raj Comics, is an Indian comic books publisher, based in New Delhi, India. It published a line of Indian comic books through Raja Pocket Books since its foundation in 1984 by Rajkumar Gupta, Manoj Gupta and Sanjay Gupta. Some of its most we ...

hosted 3 events namely, ''Gen-Next Writers Workshop'' (January 2008), ''Junoon Mela'' (June 2008), and ''Nagraj Janmotsav'' (4–5 October 2008). Nagraj Janmotsav was the birthday celebration of Raj Comics's flagship character Nagraj. Nagraj Janmotsav 2012

What started as a birthday celebration for their flagship character, soon grew into an annual convention attended by several fans and creators. Raj Comics organized the initial events at Rtoonz Studios (

Burari Burari Assembly constituency is one of the seventy Delhi assembly constituencies of Delhi in northern India. Burari assembly constituency is a part of North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. This constituency was created by reorganization by d ...

). Each year, the event kept growing both in size and space and in 2012, it was held at Dilli Haat, Pitampura.
''

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

'', New Delhi, 5 October 2008 In 2013, Raj Comics declared that Nagraj Janmotsav will be celebrated on an even bigger scale and was called ''Comics Fest India''. This new bigger convention showcased stalls by multiple Indian publishing houses, including, but not restricted to,

, Tricolor Children Books, Campfire Novels, Holycow Entertainment, Paperclip Books, Rovolt Comics, Fenil Comics and many other publishers. These conventions include many contests, interactive sessions, comics launches, workshops and speeches by various novelists, editors, comic book artists and writers.

Kalpana Lok Awards

In 2010, Raj Comics celebrated its Silver Jubilee with the third Nagraj Janmotsav. During this event Raj Comics started honouring the excellence of its own creatives with an in-house award ceremony, called Kalpana Lok Awards. The celebration opened with Nagraj's Birthday followed by inaugural Kalpana lok awards. Raj Comics editors nominates creative individuals under different categories like Best -

Penciller A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations, usually in collaboration with other artists, who provide inks, colors ...

Webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

Script Writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

Graphic Designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

Inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

Colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

. Winners are decided by a special jury of authors and artists appointed by organizers, and the fans who can vote online on Comics Fest India as well as Raj Comics websites. Fourth edition of Kalpana Lok Awards was one of the most publicized attractions of Comics Fest India 2013. In 2013, during the Comics Fest India, the awards called for submissions from various publishers all over the country. The categories were expanded and several publishing houses participated in the awards.

Comics Fest India 2013

Jointly organized by

Punjab Kesari Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

and Animation Xpress, Comics Fest India was held from 30 November – 1 December 2013 at

. In an attempt to expand the event apart from participants from previous editions many new publishers, animation companies participated, such as

Amar Chitra Katha Amar Chitra Katha (ACK Comics) is an Indian publisher of Indian comics and graphic novels. Most of its comics are based on religious legends and epics, historical figures and biographies, folktales and cultural stories. The company was founded ...

Diamond Comics Diamond Comics is an Indian comic books publisher and distribution company, headquartered in Delhi. It is the largest comic book distributor and publisher in India. Diamond Comics created several original Indian comic characters like Chacha C ...

, Holy Cow Entertainment, Any Magic Studios, Pustak Mahal, Geek Mentors Studios, Fenil Comics, Campfire Graphic Novels,

Lotpot ''Lotpot'' is a bilingual comic magazine published by Mayapuri Group. ''Lotpot'' title was registered by Mr. A.P. Bajaj in 1969 and the first issue came out in the same year and has been published without a break since then. Popular characters of ...

, Freelance talents,

National Book Trust National Book Trust (NBT) is an Indian publishing house, which was founded in 1957 as an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. The activities of the Trust include publishing, promotion of books and reading, ...

. The event contained various workshops, launches and activities. These mini events included; fan introduction, workshops on creative writing, storytelling and publishing; contests such as cosplay, comic trivia and one liners. Also, many fans performed various comic skits on stage and to entertain little kids, magic show and a drawing competition were held. Raj Comics also unveiled the life size statues of its superheroes during the event.

Mukesh Khanna Mukesh Khanna (born 23 June 1958) is an Indian actor, talk show host and producer who works in Hindi language films and television shows. He is best known for his portrayal of Shaktimaan, the superhero character in ''Shaktimaan'' (1997–2005) ...

attended the event as a special guest. After having been the host for previous two Nagraj Janmotsav Events, Delhi based emcee Kshitij Sharma once again hosted the on-stage proceedings for Comics Fest India, 2013

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Comics Fest India Official WebsitePaperclip Books, websiteRaj Exclusive Preview
at '' Comics Addcits''
Comics Fest India Official Facebook PageRaj Comics Facebook PagePunjab Kesari Hindi Newspaper WebsiteDiamond ComicsCampfire Graphic NovelsAmar Chitra KathaPustak MahalNational Book TrustFenil ComicsHoly Cow Entertainment
Defunct comics conventions Indian comics Comics awards Recurring events established in 2008 Culture of Delhi Fan conventions Raj Comics 2008 establishments in Delhi Companies based in New Delhi

History

Kalpana Lok Awards

Comics Fest India 2013

See also

References

External links