Soothran (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

: സൂത്രൻ) is the titular protagonist of the Indian comic series that appears regularly in the Malayalam children's magazine '' Balarama. ''The comics are conceptualized by Luis Fernandes (the editor of ''

Tinkle ''Tinkle'' is an Indian weekly 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, stories, ...

'') and N. M. Mohan, written by Madhavan Namboothiri and illustrated (currently) by Simi Muhamma.''Kids Cartoon Camp at Muhamma, Alleppy'' (Kerala Cartoon Academy) 15 May 2011
/ref> The story revolves around a smart jackal named Soothran who lives in a cave in the jungle. His best friend, Sheru, is a dumb and cowardly tiger. The strips depict the adventures of the two friends, and is noted for its funny

twist ending A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist ending or surprise ending. It may change ...

s. The comic strip, launched in mid-2001 (July), was a huge success. Unlike other comics in

, it became widely popular among Kerala youth also and soon became a flagship strip of the magazine. More than 500 weekly strips of ''Soothran'' have been published so far, each one about 4 or 5 pages in length. "Soothran" was created by Luis Fernandes, the editor of the Tinkle magazine, and N. M. Mohan for ''Balarama'' in 2001. Simi Muhamma, an artist from

Muhamma Muhamma is a census town in the Cherthala Taluk in the Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is home to Cheerappanchira kalari, where Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala had his training in the martial arts. Cheerappanchira is an Ezha ...

in Alleppey, currently draws the comics and Madhavan Namboothiri prepares the script.

Characters

Sootran Sootran is the protagonist in the comic around him all the story revolves. Sootran is a fox of medium stature but cunning as well. He is accompanied by his friend Sheru. Sootran in most cases try to find solutions or to capitalise scenarios which evolve. In any case he (and his friend) end up hanging. Babysitting Kadiyan's son is a major predicament for the duo so that they take utmost care in protecting him and at the same time entertaining him. Sheru Sheru the tiger is Sootran's best friend and there is no existence for Sheru without Sootran and vice versa. Sheru is a loyal (somewhat obedient) to Sootran and joins him in every venture. Sheru seems selfless, monotonic and innocent compared to Sootran. Sheru is of strong built but ends up bad as good as Sootran does. Some people may think he is dumb but he is overly innocent and talks very less. Kadiyan Kadiyan the lion is an important character just like the above-mentioned pair. Kadiyan acts like a goon and does not hesitate to assault people if he decides to. Kadiyan is of the negative side despite the fact that he reasons with Sootran in many instances. Kadiyan employes Sootran to look after his son which shows how much he trusts them. However they end up really bad as they fail to keep him safe. In most of the stories Kadiyan choke both of them for jeopardizing his son's safety. Ajagajan Ajagajan the goat is a guest character who is not a regular but inseparable one in the storyline. Ajagajan is a scared goat who somehow got into the forest ( somehow he act like that) pray to god to keep him safe. He is a white goat with peculiar ornaments ( religiously sacred maybe). He utters verses all the time free styling the situation. He is good rapper as it appears, he effortlessly juggles rhymes and sophisticated terms with great eloquence. Many remember instances where Sootran and Sheru conspiring to eat the Goat. Kaattumuthappan Kaattumuthappan is the god or a deity which is not a character but is mentioned several hundred times by every animals in the story. They pop a phrase " ente kaattumuthappa , chathicho?!" meaning " My god , we screwed up!?"

Trivia

* Soothran comics have also been published as special summer month collections, starting in 2003. * ''Akku and Ikku'' is a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

story from the Soothran universe and appeared in "Balarama" magazine. * Soothran and Sheru appear in a series of crossover comics known as ''All the Best''.

References

External links

''Soothran'' online at the Malayala Manorama website
{dead link, date=May 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes Indian comics Indian comics titles 2001 comics debuts Comics about anthropomorphic mammals Comics about anthropomorphic foxes Fictional canines Comics set in jungles Comics set in India Humor comics Male characters in comics Malayalam comics Comics characters introduced in 2001