Lakadbaggha set to become a comic-book saga; from screen to pages says Anshuman Jha
Actor-producer Anshuman Jha's Lakadbaggha is being adapted into a comic book series and the first volume will be released at ComicCon 2024.
Comic book fans and enthusiasts can look forward to a new addition to their collection. Actor -producer Anshuman Jha’s 2023 release Lakadbaggha, will soon release a comic book series on the film. Jha, who played the masked vigilante in the film, is excited about the Animal Lover Vigilante comic book called Lakadbaggha (The Hyena).
It will be created by American illustrator Brittain Peck and will be unveiled at Comic Con 2024.
Jha says, “Lakadbaggha has been a dream project, and seeing it expand into the comic book realm is beyond exciting and one which will live beyond us. I am thrilled to create this. Comic book characters become artefacts of pop-culture. I have grown up reading Tintin, Chacha Choudhary, Lotpot and Nagraj- and all of them have left a mark in my mind.And while comic books are usually a staple for films- Spiderman, Batman - we are catching the nose the other way round with Lakadbaggha-1 as a film released in 2023. Volume-1 of the comic book series will now launch in 2024."
He adds, "But the comic book world was always in the pipeline for me. Comic-Con has been a dream and launching the comic series there is a pledge to give comic book lovers a home bred, desi Indian ordinary man who is a ‘Superhero’ fighting for the voiceless - Arjun Bakshi. With Brittain Peck creating the art we are fusing the best of the East and West in a bid to create a hero based in values of goodness, whose superpower is that he is ordinary."
The origin story of the action film won the Vision Award at Stuttgart in 2023 with Jha winning the Best Actor award at the HBO South Asian Festival in New York, also clocked over a 100Million viewing minutes on its digital release in India. The makers are working on the sequel of the film, which will go on the floor this year.
Jha adds, "While we have part-2 of the film going on floors this year in Indonesia and plans for part 3 in late 2025 in Los Angeles, the comics will keep churning out newer characters which may or may not make it to the screens. The comic book will have a life of its own for it will make Arjun (his character) - the masked animal lover vigilante more accessible to the youth and will feed into/from the film. The action on the pages will be wild. Also, the comic book will allow the readers to delve more into the origin story of Arjun and will help them delve deeper into all the characters. Volume 1 will have 3 books and we are starting with 3 volumes in 2024. It will seek inspiration from the hero that is Arjun Bakshi, not validation."