Zhinchak or Zhingchak? :P

Posted on June 13, 2008 by mohaps

Well looks like lotsa folks are writing about Jimmy Z, but they have typo’d the title as “Jimmy Zhinchak” instead of Jimmy zhingchak. Who cares… a rose by any other name… blah blah…

but wait… google does differentiate… so here goes google foot print of Jimmy Zhingchak/Zhinchak

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=zhinchak+comics&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=zhingchak+comics&btnG=Search

For those who googled for zhinchak … Here are some links you’ve missed

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=115

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=114

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=112

http://www.mohaps.com/?p=111

May the Zhingchak be with you!

PS: Really feels good to have created something that so many people are njoying. As Jimmy zhinchak / jimmy zhingchak – agent of DISCO would say… “Aieee Saalaaa”.

E.T. hearts Zhingchak :)

Posted on June 13, 2008 by mohaps

No, not the one that wants to phone home, but Economic Times, one of India’s leading business daily’s has been swept up in the Zhingchak fever.

Here is the link

The Telegraph uses the Zhingchak :)

Posted on June 8, 2008 by mohaps

Now The Telegraph has done their bit in unleashing the Zhingchak. Here is the link to the piece in their Limelight section.

More Zhingchak

Posted on June 6, 2008 by mohaps

Bhappida Well, Jimmy Zhingchak seems to be doing quite a boogey these days . Looks like there is a market after all for 80′s DISCO. Yeah behveee and aiee saala and all that.

It’s kinda a kicker for me since Jimmy Zhingchak (even the word Zhingchak itself) harks back to a simpler more ….ummm… zhinghcakier time from 1995-99, the four best years of my life spent in the rockingest place on earth…. IIT Kharagpur Sumo Sama

Jimmy was born after too many idle nights of desi tharra (5 bucks a pouch from the dhaba by the national highway ) and of course shyamal special pudias induced lying on the rooftop connecting stars playing connect the dots type of thing.

Idle minds they say are the devil’s workshop

Anyways nostalgia later…

Here are some more news links:

Tehelka.com coverage

SHINEY, TIGHTY, WHITEY

Don Muthusami may have died in the water but there are people who still love a shinier, happier time when Mithun Chakraborty ruled. Sri Lankan singer MIA’s disco ball-laden Jimmy Jimmy is not the only tribute. Virgin Comics is about to release a new comic with a superhero called Jimmy Zhingchak, Agent Of D.I.S.C.O. The superhero has Mithun’s trademark clothes, walk and a great line in cheesy patter. And Jimmy will be released in the US soon. Hey, what about us?

Bollywood Hungama / IndiaFM coverage:

Confirming the news with Bollywood Hungama, COO of UTV Spotboy, Vikas Bahl informs, “Basically, the idea of releasing a comic book based on a famous Bollywood character came up after having a look at the current scenario of comic books which are targeting small kids or have sci-fi theme. So, we thought of something out of the box and came out with the book that features the character Jimmy who plays a fighter on the disco floor.”

The Zhingchak, It's been unleashed! :)

Posted on June 4, 2008 by mohaps

Well it’s finally here, Jimmy Zhingchak – Agent of D.I.S.C.O. is now out in comic book stores across the US and also available for purchase at Virgin Comics Store

And the initial reaction has been great

Raja Sen of Rediff.com did a “First Look” review.

In the blogopshere, reviews have started popping up and in general the comic seems to have been received in the right spirit (I’ve always maintained its equal parts homage and spoof, I simply can’t stress enough, how much my fragile little mind was warped by the Electric Bugaloo of 80′s Bollywood.)

Here is a brief list of reviews (I shall update the post as I find more)

Rediff.com First Look : http://www.rediff.com/movies/2008/jun/03look.htm
Comickal Review : http://iainpj.livejournal.com/93892.html

Animation Express Article : http://www.animationxpress.com/index.php?file=story&id=9021

they misspelt my name as “Sorav”

Sequential Tart Interview

Posted on May 12, 2008 by mohaps

I was recently interviewed by Rebecca Buchanan of Sequential Tart. Here is the link to the interview.

NYCC documentary

Posted on May 12, 2008 by mohaps

While attending NYCC ’08, I was approached by Luis Medina, a filmmaker who was making a documentary about [sic] “People of color in comics”. While I made my views clear on that “classification” (the only part that made it into the final cut is at 02:06 on the video), it was kind of interesting to discuss about the role of race/ethinicty in the kind of stories we tell.

I stand by the views I expressed in the documentary i.e. a writer is not defined as an Indian writer or a latin american writer or a caucasian writer. There are good writers and then there are bad writers.

Watch it with an open mind and hope you enjoy it.

Video Link

India Authentic review at Beliefnet

Posted on May 11, 2008 by mohaps

A review of the India Authentic vol 2. is up at Beliefnet.com.

An excerpt from the review

What makes [INDIA AUTHENTIC] so effective and impressive is that these gods and near-immortals exhibit very human concerns. In fact, many of the stories allow the pictures to “breathe”–to dominate the space of the page–as the reader is exposed to the protagonists’ thoughts. Inner monologue is not something I commonly associate with sacred stories; we never get inside either Moses’ head as he leads Isaac up to the sacrifice or Jesus’ thoughts on Judas or Mary Magdelene. “India Authentic” takes readers inside the super-humans who still seem identifiably human-like.

Nevertheless, each story operates in a sort of god-logic (or, maybe more precisely, Hindu theo-logic), where devotion, will, or ethic leads to a transcendent resolution. These are not Aesop’s Fables with some simple moral to convey. Instead, “India Authentic” demonstrates universal themes refracted through Hinduism–both pictorial introductions and everyday reminders.

Full Review

Buy India Authentic @ Amazon.com :

(India Authentic Vol 1 – Book of Shiva)

(India Authentic Vol 2)

THE SADHU – THE SILENT ONES TPB now available in stores

Posted on April 23, 2008 by mohaps

THE SADHU - THE SILENT ONES Well, finally it’s out. This weekend at NYCC I got my copy of SADHU : THE SILENT ONES Trade Paperback collecting issues 1-5 of the miniseries I wrote. TSO continues the story of James Jensen, the british soldier who became a mystic and walked the path of the Sadhu as he searches for his son. He faces off with an ancient evil cult lead by a beautiful but deadly witch, The Grand Mistress of the Silent Ones. His quest takes him far beyond the limits of the mortal world as he pierces the boundaries between the physical world and the more esoteric planes of existence and discovers the true nature of reality.

Sadhu : TSO was fun to write as I got to play around with a lot of existential concepts. The cosmology of TSO tries to combine the Indian mystical concepts of Maya and Reincarnation along with the Australian Aboriginal concept of Dreamtime, reality as a set of interlocked / intersecting dreams of the collective unconscious.

You can either pick up the book at your nearby bookstore (which carries Virgin Comics) or buy it from Amazon here.

Do let me know how you liked (or did not like) the book. Drop me a line either via the contact page on this website or mail me at mohaps at gmail dot com.

Also if you find any reviews or articles refering to the book, feel free to post a comment here or drop me a line.

NYCC Panel Video

Posted on April 23, 2008 by mohaps

The full video of the NYCC ’08 Panel on Our Gods Wear Spandex.

Panel at New York Comic Con on April 19, 2008 on the topic of Christopher Knowles’ book Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes. Moderated by A. Davis Lewis, panelists include Christopher Knowles, Testament creator Douglas Rushkoff, Cairo author G. Willow Wilson, Virgin Comics writer Saurav Mohapatra and DC Comics legend Denny O’Neil. Panel discusses the archetypes of comic book superheroes, their function in modern culture and the future of the genre. Questions are also taken from the audience.

NOTE: I had a slip of tonuge and said “Holden McNeil” . I meant “Holden Caulfield”. You have been warned