Pran Kumar Sharma (15 August 1938 – 5 August 2014), better known as Pran, was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

cartoonist best known as the creator of ''

Chacha Chaudhary Chacha Chaudhary is an Indian comic book character, created by cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma. The comic comes in ten Indian languages including Hindi and English and has sold over ten million copies. It has also been made into a television serie ...

'' (1971). He also created other characters like

Shrimatiji Shrimatiji is an Indian comic based on a middle class housewife Sheela, popularly known as Shrimatiji. The series started in magazine Sarita. It was created by Pran Kumar Sharma Pran Kumar Sharma (15 August 1938 – 5 August 2014), better know ...

, Pinki, Billoo, Raman, and Channi Chachi.

Early life and education

Born in

Kasur Kasur (Urdu and pa, ; also Romanization of Urdu, romanized as Qasūr; from pluralized Arabic word ''Qasr'' meaning "palaces" or "forts") is a city to south of Lahore, in the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. The city serves as th ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, Pran graduated with a BA from Gwalior and Master of Arts (Political Science) degree from evening Camp College,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. He then pursued a five-year course in

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

from

Sir J. J. School of Art The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's degrees in fine art and sculpture, and Master's de ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

through distance as a private student while in Delhi, so that he could apply as a drawing teacher at schools, but he discontinued.

Career

Pran began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for the

-based newspaper ''Milap'' with comic strip '' Daabu''. Apart from ''Daabu'', Indian comics scenario was largely based on reprints of

The Phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...

and

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

. In 1969, Pran sketched

for the

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

magazine ''

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 ...

'', which made him famous. Pran has also created other cartoon characters like ''

'', '' Pinki'', '' Billoo'', ''Raman'', '' Channi Chachi'' and others, which are regularly published in Indian magazines. Pran reached lakhs of Kannadigas through his Putti, Raman that were published in Kannada daily Prajavani and Shrimathi which publishes in Kannada magazine Sudha. He was included in ''People of the Year 1995'' by

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

for popularizing comics in India.Pran profile
''Indian Institute of Cartoonists'' In 1983, the then

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

, Mrs.

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

released Pran's comics "''Raman - Ham Ek Hain''" which promoted national integration. Pran received a ''Lifetime Achievement Award'' 2001, from Indian Institute of Cartoonists. Pran has also given lessons in cartooning at the Pran's Media Institute, run by his son Nikhil..

Maurice Horn Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoon ...

notes that Pran has been given the title of "

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

of India" in ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics''. The

strips find permanent place in

International Museum of Cartoon Art The National Cartoon Museum was an American museum dedicated to the collection, preservation and exhibition of cartoons, comic strips and animation. It was the brainchild of Mort Walker, creator of ''Beetle Bailey''. The museum opened in 1974 ...

, United States.

Death

He had been suffering from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

and subsequently was admitted to a hospital in Gurgaon, where he died on 5 August 2014 at approximately 9:30 pm local time.Kim Arrora (7 August
"Pran, creator of Chacha Chaudhary, dies at 75,"
''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' (Mumbai) captured at 4:49am 7 August. He was posthumously awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

, the fourth highest civilian award of India, in 2015.

References

External links

Pran's Features LLP
Pran profile
at ''Indian Institute of Cartoonists''
TBI Tribute: Pran – The Man Who Gave Life To India’s Favourite Cartoon Characters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Pran Kumar 1938 births 2014 deaths Indian cartoonists Indian comics artists Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni People from Kasur District People from Delhi Deaths from cancer in India Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Diamond Comics