S. Gopalan, pen-name Gopulu (18 June 1924 – 29 April 2015), was a Tamil illustrator and cartoonist, known for his work for the Tamil humour magazine ''
Ananda Vikatan''.
Born in Tanjore in 1924, Gopulu spent his early years in the city. He studied at the Kumbakonam School of Art. In 1941, he came to
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
looking for a job in Ananda Vikatan. There, he met cartoonist
'Mali', who commissioned a number of paintings for the magazine's Deepavali special. It was not till December 1944, however, that Mali offered Gopulu a job at the magazine. (Mali was also the one who gave Gopulu his pen-name). In the course of the next twenty or so years, till 1968, Gopulu did political cartoons, cover designs and illustrated columns for the magazine.
As an illustrator, Gopulu worked on popular serials such as ''
Thillana Mohanambal'' and ''Washingtonil Thirumanam''. He is known for his work with the writer
Devan for whom he illustrated the serial
Thuppariyum Sambu
Thuppariyum Sambu is a detective short-story series in Tamil language, Tamil, written by Indian writer Devan (writer), Devan in the early 20th century. The novel's protagonist is Sambu, a not-very-intelligent bank clerk in middle age, who solves d ...
in comics form. Devan's bumbling detective is remembered in the form in which Gopulu first drew him. Gopulu also traveled with the writer
Saavi
''Saavi'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film, written and directed by Karthik Raghunath. The film stars Sathyaraj, Jaishankar, Saritha and Nizhalgal Ravi, with music composed by Gangai Amaran. It is a remake of 1985 Hindi fil ...
in 1953–54, to Ajanta, Ellora, Delhi, Jaipur, Calcutta for a travel series.
In 1972, Gopulu started his own ad agency, Ad Wave Advertising. He designed the logo of the Tamil magazine ''
Kungumam'', and that of
Sun TV too. Later, he quit advertising and began to work as a freelance illustrator for magazines such as ''Kalki'', ''Amudhasurabhi'', ''Vikatan'' and ''Kungumam''.
Gopulu was given the ‘Kalaimamani' award by the Government of Tamil Nadu on 26 November 1991. He is a recipient of the Murasoli Award and the M. A. Chidambaram Chettiar Award. In 2001 he was honoured with the lifetime achievement award as part of the inaugural function of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists in Bangalore.
Bibliography
Washingtonil Thirumanam, written by Saavi, illustrated by Gopulu (Narmadha Pathipagam, 1999).
Gopulu's cartoons have been published in books by Vikatan Prasuram.
References
External links
Profile of Gopulu at Indian Institute of CartoonistsIllustrations by Gopulu (Page in Tamil)
1924 births
2015 deaths
Indian cartoonists
Indian comics artists
{{India-artist-stub