POW! Entertainment Inc. (fka POWN)

[rickn23]

India’s New Superhero Goes Global With Bollywood Adaptation

http://www.indiawest.com/entertainment/global/india-s-new-superhero-goes-global-with-bollywood-adaptation/article_85b6608c-3424-11e6-a0f8-ebcb44c5a427.html

After developing iconic characters like Spider-Man, X-Men, Hulk and Iron Man, comic book legend Stan Lee gave India its own nerdy, yet handsome superhero in the form of “Chakra: The Invincible.” Lee and his company POW! Entertainment are now partnering with Graphic India, a character entertainment company, and Phantom Films, to bring the superhero to the big screen. The live-action Bollywood adaptation will be directed by Vikramaditya Motwane.

Co-created by Bangalore-based Graphic India founders Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra — both Indian Americans — the story centers on Chakra, aka Raju Rai, a teenage technological genius living in Mumbai. Determined to use science to unlock the secrets of human potential, Raju develops a technically-enhanced suit that activates the mystical Chakras of the body, unleashing newfound abilities and powers. The character premiered in an animated movie on Cartoon Network India in 2013.

The makers are keeping a lot of the project under wraps, but the theatrical film will feature an older version of Chakra (Raju Rai), who now in his twenties comes to terms with using his powers and mastering them in time to stop a major threat to Mumbai and the world.

“Chakra is a Stan Lee superhero, and Stan has a very unique and special way of creating characters that have appealed to audiences across the world for generations. Chakra will stay true to that sensibility,” Devarajan told India-West in an email. “The reason Stan’s characters have withstood the changing times is because he concentrated just as much on the characters’ private lives as we did on them fighting the bad guys. And Stan always tried to give his heroes and his villains a lot of personal problems so that they seemed like real people.”

Devarajan explained that there will be big differences between the animated property and the new theatrical film that they are developing in terms of story, execution, characterization and scale.

“The animated version mainly focused at a younger 6-12 age demo who were watching it on Cartoon Network India,” he elaborated, “whereas the live-action film will be designed to entertain a much wider and older audience, with the same great story, character, action-adventure, and spectacle that we have come to except from superhero films around the world.”

Devarajan, who is producing the film along with Madhu Mantena from Phantom Films and Gill Champion of POW! Entertainment, said he was confident that the director, whose debut film, “Udaan,” screened at the Cannes festival, was the best choice for the adaptation.

“Vikram is the perfect director to take this on as he is a brilliant auteur filmmaker who also has a deep passion for superheroes and the type of wonderment we are focused on creating for audiences in India with Chakra,” he told India-West.

Considering Lee as the ultimate “black belt” master of superhero storytelling, Devarajan credits the 93-year-old Marvel legend for inculcating a love for storytelling in him.

“Working on a superhero with Stan Lee is like creating a painting with Da Vinci or a poem with Shakespeare,” said Devarajan. “I bet more people can recognize the face of Spider-Man than that of the Mona Lisa.”

Superheroes, characters and stories have for generations been “reflective of larger societal narratives” he added, and even when told through the lens of fantasy and action/adventure, they deal with complex and serious story lines and issues through characters that are flawed and go through a story of transformation and growth.

“In the same way the West has created superheroes or Japan created anime, India has the potential to become one of the biggest creative exporters in the years ahead and bring a new creative voice to the global stage,” stated Devarajan. “After all, it wasn’t just Japanese kids who made Pokemon a success, it was every kid.”

Devarajan is also the co-founder of Liquid Comics, a digital entertainment company that creates content for publishing, theatrical films, animation and games. He was previously CEO of Virgin Comics, which he co-founded with Sir Richard Branson, author Deepak Chopra, Gotham Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and was the co-creator of the acclaimed “Spider-Man: India” comic series from Marvel.

He holds a BFA from Syracuse University and an MBA from Columbia University.

The media entrepreneur, also an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, is an executive producer/producer on a number of theatrical live-action films and television projects, including the film adaptation of “The Leaves” with Lionsgate/Summit; “Ramayan 3392AD” with Mandalay Entertainment; “Dominion: Dinosaurs Versus Aliens,” with filmmaker Barry Sonnenfeld; and “Sadhu: Warrior,” for which he also co-wrote the screenplay and is in development with producer Mark Canton (“300” films, “Immortals”).

Devarajan explained that just like the western superhero, which was really redefined in the 60s by Lee and his creative partners, and drew inspiration from the existing socio-political scenarios, Graphic India “wants to allow creators to tap into today’s culture, contemporary issues, hopes, dreams and fears” to serve as the source of inspiration for their characters and stories.

Devarajan said Chakra speaks to the story of this generation – the story of globalization — and that’s what makes Chakra “so special” to him.

“Never before has technology empowered us to share ideas across the planet at blazing internet speed, which is the source of great creativity, but also of great confusion and conflict,” he opined. “Will this inter-exchange between east and west lead to a world devoid of any regional cultural distinction – or will it instead lead to a spontaneous evolution of humanity?”

No one knows where globalization will lead, but Graphic India’s goal, he told India-West, is to “open the floodgates and help empower the creativity” that comes from this exciting exchange of ideas.

“The idea of a western icon like Stan, working with an Indian team to share ideas and evolve the superhero genre, is emblematic of that global story,” said Devarajan. “On the Chakra character specifically, the concept of an Indian boy who wears a technologically enhanced suit that activates the mystical chakras is bridging the concepts of science and spirituality. This is a theme that resonates with people around the world as different societies try to reconcile the fast pace of our scientific breakthroughs with the ancient wisdom traditions of each culture.”