Shikari Shambu (''Hunter Shambu'') is an
Indian comics
Chitrakatha (Hindi: चित्रकथा, Telugu: చిత్రకథ) are comics or graphic novels originating from India published in a number of Indian languages.
India has a long tradition of comic readership and themes associated ...
character created by Vasant Halbe and Luis Fernandes
for the ''
Tinkle
''Tinkle'' is an Indian fortnightly magazine for children in English, published from Mumbai. Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media in 2007. The magazine contains comics, sto ...
'' magazine in 1983. Shikari Shambu is one of the characters of
Tinkle
''Tinkle'' is an Indian fortnightly magazine for children in English, published from Mumbai. Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media in 2007. The magazine contains comics, sto ...
.
Shambu is a cowardly and lazy
shikari (hunter) whom the rest of the world perceives as courageous. He always tries to run away from dangerous animals, but due to some stroke of luck always ends up as a hero. He lives with his wife Shanti. In ''The Legend of Shikari Shambu'' (Tinkle Magazine No.573), it was revealed that Shambu, before being called "Shikari" Shambu, fell on a
tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
and knocked him out. It was after this incident that he got the name "Shikari" Shambu.
He is shown wearing a large
pith helmet
The pith helmet, also known as the safari helmet, salacot, sola topee, sun helmet, topee, and topi) is a lightweight cloth-covered helmet made of sholapith. The pith helmet originates from the Spanish Empire, Spanish military adaptation of the na ...
that completely covers his face and green shorts and a shirt. He carries a large rifle which he usually never uses, even in comics he does use his rifle he never killed or shot an animal.
Origins
By 1988, ''Tinkle'' was already on its way becoming the most popular children's magazine in India. Their biggest rival that time was another children magazine named ''
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
'', run by
Living Media
Living Media India Limited, d.b.a. India Today Group, is an Indian media conglomerate based in New Delhi, India. It has interests in magazines, newspapers, books, radio, television, printing and the Internet.
History
India Today Group was ...
. Unlike ''Tinkle'', ''Target'' was more of a narrative magazine, with a few pages of comics. Their flagship character that time was
Detective Moochhwala (
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 ...
for "the man with a
mustache
A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history.
Etymology
The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ...
") by
Ajit Ninan. Moochhwala who was a detective with penetrating eyes and a huge mustache. ''Tinkle'' decided to create a competing character. Subba Rao and Dhruva, two of the creators at ''Tinkle'', came up with the proposal for such a character. They decided to base this new character on a boastful but cowardly big game hunter in the then famous television drama, ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
''.
Luis Fernandes then worked on producing the first story, which was originally named "Shambu", before Shahid Hidayat prefixed Shikari (
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 ...
for "hunter") to the name. Some of his editorial teammates had reservation over the use of the name Shikari, as the
wildlife conservation
Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...
theme was in its prominence. But, the sheer charisma of the name, they and the editor
Anant Pai, decided to let it continue. But, contrary to the name, the creators ensured that Shambu never would shoot or kill any animal in any of its episodes. More than that, creators slowly even disassociated him from his trademark
hunting gun, after few episodes. The "non-violence" policy of ''Tinkle'' also resulted in Shambu being portrayed as more of an
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
than a hunter.
One of the reasons for the popularity of Shikari Shambu, was due to the comical
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...
s of the artist, Vasant Halbe. Halbe, who was a freelancer at Tinkle that time, had impressed the editorial team with his earlier works. Once he was confirmed officially as the artist for the series, he showcased his character sketches, of which a drawing of Shikari with his Topi (hat) pulled down over his eyes, caught everyone's attention. The sketch went on to be the among the flagship character of Tinkle. In 1997, Savio A. Mascarenhas replaced Halbe as the illustrator.
As Little Shambu
Later, during the 434th issue of
Tinkle
''Tinkle'' is an Indian fortnightly magazine for children in English, published from Mumbai. Originally owned by the India Book House, the Tinkle brand was acquired by ACK (Amar Chitra Katha) Media in 2007. The magazine contains comics, sto ...
, the childhood version of Shambu and also a spin-off of the series, known as Little Shambu appeared. It was a brainwave of Reena Ittyerah Puri, the former Associate Editor of Tinkle and now, Editor,
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 ...
.
The characters of Little Shambu are-
1. Little Shambu- The childhood version of Shikari Shambu.
2. Little Shanti- The childhood version of Shanti, Shambu's Wife.
3. Little J.J.- The childhood version of Jeeva Jeevantak, an old arch-rival of Shambu who wants to harass him.
4. Dum Dum- The pet of Little Shambu, who doesn't appears in the main comic series, Shikari Shambu.
5. Kittu- The pet of Little Shanti. She doesn't appears in Shikari Shambu comic series and always harassed by J.J.
6. Suhasini- She is Little Shambu's mother. Although, her name was not revealed but revealed in a story named Nibble Nibble, which is the 3rd Little Shambu story.
7. Shambu's Father- (The name has not revealed) He is the father of Little Shambu and he always scolded him and even tried to leave him wherever the Shambu household went on such occasions.
The reoccurring characters of Little Shambu are Manu Kaka, Panda Thieves, The teacher, The School Watchman, Prof. Y. Russ, Lakshmi, the Temple Elephant, Kondiah, etc.
References
{{Reflist
Indian comics
Comics characters introduced in 1983
Comics adapted into animated films