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Keen to learn about the glorious history of the Tatas, which spans 150 years? If you want to do that in a jiffy, you may turn to a colourful, 30-page comic book, brought out by the makers of the iconic Amar Chitra Katha.
Turning a new leaf in its 50-odd-year existence, ACK Media, known for its popular comic book brands Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle , has come out with an illustrated comic book that gives a flavour of the broad history of India’s most prominent corporate house.
Commissioned project
“The Tata comic book was a commissioned project for Tata Sons. They had approached us to do this as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations last year,” said Kuriakose Saju Vaisian, Editorial Director for Digital and Brand Solutions, ACK Media.
The Tata Story is not available in book stalls, but readers can solicit a copy from Bombay House, headquarters of the Tata Group. However, two other titles — on Jamsetji Tata and JRD Tata, two legends who played a big role in building the Tata empire, — are available on sale.
“It may be a commissioned project. But, we still do proper research to ascertain the facts,” said Vaisian, adding that ACK was open to “the idea of doing more such projects in the future with other corporate houses, provided budgets permit.”
He added, “We hope that such projects contribute handsomely to our bottomline in the years to come.”
Started in 1967 by the legendary Anant Pai, who changed the face of children’s publishing in India, Amar Chitra Katha has so far released more than 400 titles, with over 100 million copies sold in 20-plus languages.
Vaisian said that in 2014, ACK Media launched its digital and brand solutions division to explore such opportunities. “One of the very first projects we took up was for Tata Mutual Funds, to educate readers about investments. It was designed as a conversation with Suppandi, a character in the comic Tinkle, and a newly-created Professor Simply Simple, where the professor teaches Suppandi a thing or two about investments,” he said.
Government projects
ACK has also created a book on historical relations between India and Indonesia for Godrej Indonesia, apart from a series on Swachh Bharat for the Ministry of Urban Development on the history of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in India, from the days of the Indus Valley Civilisation till now.
Recently, ACK Media completed similar special publications for the Ministry of Ayush and the National Thermal Power Corporation.
“We are currently working on a special booklet for the Future Group about their sustainability efforts,” said Vaisian.
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