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A twist in the tale

The epic man Vishal K. Dar

Really, it’s all about perception. For millions, Ramayana, the ancient Hindu scripture attributed to saint Valmiki, may be a story of good versus evil, of sacrifice, ethics and friendship, but for Vishal K. Dar, it’s also the greatest tragic love story, which has never been told.

The architect-designer-artist Vishal is planning to tell this untold tale of love between Ram and Sita through the graphic Ramayana he has been working on for the past three-and-a-half years.

“What attracts me to the Ramayana is that it’s an eternal love-story, and like others of its ilk, it too ends in tragedy,” says Vishal.

The author feels that after Sita’s abduction, Ram and Sita never have a life together. Sita is sent off to the forest by Ram and then is swallowed by the earth. She follows her husband to the forest in his vanvas because she loves him and Ram crosses the ocean and fights with Ravan for his love.

Vishal also views it as a story of wrong choices, flawed people. “There is a twist to my Ramayana. There is a dialogue between Ravan and his wife Mandodari where she is asking him what could be the repercussions of his act,” adds Vishal who re-looks at several characters or rather contextualises them in today’s time. Mandodari, Kumbhakarna, Sugreev’s brother’s Vali are a few of them.

The death of Vali is an important episode in his novel. “It’s a turning point where Ram kills the vanar Vali enthroning Sugreev as the ruler of Kishkindha and thus happens the first alliance between the vanar army and Ram. It reminds me of political moves made today,” says Vishal.

Taking off from the original Valmiki Ramayana which Vishal calls the “seed”, he has looked at other versions like the Tamil Kamba Ramayan, Tulsidas’ Ramacharitmanas and the Bengali Krittivas Ramayan written by poet Krittivas, for research. He has briefly touched upon South East Asian countries’ versions of Ramayana as well.

Vishal has merged the Amar Chitra Katha style with the popular Japanese Mangha comics done in anime style.

Though abroad, graphic literature is a genre in itself, in India it has largely remained untouched. “I deliberately chose this genre because I feel it’s an extension of the Ramlila culture where everything is so visual. Like various versions of Ramayana, it will lead and then leave the reader to ponder,” says Vishal who was the co-producer, animator and visualiser of the multi-media performance “About Ram” along with puppeteer Anurupa Roy. Vishal has also designed Deepika Jindal’s Stainless Art Gallery and recently had an exhibition of steel sculptures inspired by architecture.

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