''Priya's Shakti'' is a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

by Ram Devineni and Dan Goldman, whose heroine, Priya, is a "modern-day female superhero", a rape survivor who rides a flying tiger. Issued in 2014, it was followed by ''Priya's Mirror'' (2016) and ''Priya and the Lost Girls'' (2019).

Background and production

Indian American film maker Ram Devineni was inspired to create ''Priya's Shakti'' in response to the Delhi bus rape in 2012. He travelled around India and parts of southeast Asia for almost a year, consulting with activists against gender-based violence and also with sociologists, philosophers and poets, before collaborating with American comic book designer Dan Goldman, whom he met in New York, to create a graphic novel. Produced in Hindi and English, the comic was available as a free download and was launched at Mumbai Comicon in December 2014, two years after that case. The project's social impact director was Lina Srivastava; in partnership with Aapne Aap Worldwide, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

helping women in India and the US, a #standwithpriya selfie campaign was organised and copies were distributed in schools. An exhibition appeared in locations around the world including New York, Torino, Barcelona, London, Sheffield, Rome and Dubai. ''Priya's Shakti'' was India's first

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

comic book; scanning pages with

Blippar Blippar, which was one of the UK's first tech unicorns, specialises in augmented reality (AR) content creation and publishing to smartphones and the web. Blippar's product offerings include in-house bespoke AR content creation, with a focus o ...

brought up animations and true stories, and the Artivive app is now used. Associated murals in

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- ...

and other cities could also be scanned with a smart phone to play video.

''Priya's Shakti''

''Priya's Shakti'' tells the story of Priya, a villager from India who is gang raped by men in her village. When she tells her family of her ordeal, they shun her saying she has brought shame on them. The village elders also blame her for "provoking" the men. Ashamed and scared, she flees to the forest to end her life. But the goddess

Parvati Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi i ...

, queen to the god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, sees her plight and seeks to help her. She enters Priya's body and confronts the men who raped her. The men do not realize Parvati is inside Priya and try to rape her again. Angered, the goddess takes her true form. Meanwhile, Shiva is awakened from his slumber and sees how mortal men are treating his wife. Furious, he curses all mankind to impotency. But Parvati's idea prevails: Priya becomes a superpowered champion of women's rights, who will work to end violence against women by changing society. In the title of the comic, ''Shakti'' means "strength". Her tiger nature manifests as a flying tiger on which she rides, called Sahas, "courage" in Hindi.

''Priya's Mirror''

In ''Priya's Mirror'', the second comic in the series, released in October 2016 at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...

in English, Hindi, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, Priya and

acid attack An acid attack, also called acid throwing, vitriol attack, or vitriolage, is a form of violent assault involving the act of throwing acid or a similarly corrosive substance onto the body of another "with the intention to disfigure, maim, tortu ...

survivors combat the demon king Ahankar, himself an abuse victim. In a partnership with the Last Mask Campaign, readers could use Snapchat-style filters to share images of their faces as they would be after an acid attack, as a show of solidarity. The comic was written by Devineni with Indian film maker and writer Paromita Vohra, again with art by Goldman. An augmented reality exhibit and interview at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

were part of the release.

''Priya and the Lost Girls''

''Priya and the Lost Girls'' appeared in December 2019 and was scripted by Indian American actress and playwright Dipti Mehta, who researched

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

for her one-woman show, ''Honour''; Ruchira Gupta, the founder of Apne Aap, also collaborated on it. Priya finds all the girls have vanished from her village, including her sister, Lakshmi; she rescues them from an underground brothel city run by the demon Rahu, who turns any women who resist to stone, but the rescued girls must then also stand up for their rights against the villagers who refuse to take them back, scorning them as "lepers". Devineni chose this theme for the third comic in the series after visiting the red light district of

Sonagachi Sonagachi is a neighbourhood in Kolkata, India, located in North Kolkata near the intersection of Jatindra Mohan Avenue (north of C.R. Avenue) with Beadon Street and Sovabazar, about one kilometer north of the Marble Palace area.} Sonagachi is ...

in Kolkata and talking to women who were in the sex trade after being tricked, or believing they had no other way to earn a living.

Awards and recognition

''Priya's Shakti'' received a grant from the 2014 Tribeca Film Institute New Media Fund, supported by the Ford Foundation.

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

named the heroine a 2014 Gender Equality Champion. ''Priya's Mirror'' was funded by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

WEvolve programme and received the Special Jury Prize at the 2017 FilmGate Interactive Media Festival in Miami.

References

External links

Official websitePriya Shakti riding her tiger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priya's Shakti Pantheon Books graphic novels 2014 graphic novels Comics about women Feminist comics Gang rape in fiction Indian comics titles