Bahadur-The Red Bricks House ( Indrajal Comics No. 267 )

Indrajal Comics No. 267Bahdur Makes his debut in Indian comic scene and How ? The comic strip was created in December, 1976. Dacoity was at its worst in India in 1970s and the Bahadur series focussed a lot on dacoits.Bahadur himself was the son of a dacoit Vairab Singh, who died in combat with Police. Bahadur, then a teenager, was adopted by Vishal, the police officer who shot Vairab SingUpon growing up, Bahadur set up the Citizen's Security Force or the Hindi translation Naagrik Suraksha Dal (NASUD) that aids the police in combating dacoits. Though Bahadur dealt with many kinds of villains, he displayed a much softer corner towards dacoits trying to rehabilitate them. One of his assistants Lakhan was also a reformed dacoit. After surrendering to the police, he started helping Bahadur in curbing crime.EvolutionThe stories evolved with time and portrayed the changing face of India. While beginning with dacoits in deep ravines and the small town of Jaigarh, Bahadur later moved to tackling themes such as espionage. The town itself moved from being a small sleepy town to a modern city.Aabid Surti conceived of Bahadur and started the comic strip in 1976. "Bennett, Coleman & Co wanted me to create an Indian character that could take on the popularity of the four foreign comics that ruled the market in India then—The Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon and Tarzan," he says. "During that time, the Chambal Valley was becoming increasingly notorious, and there were exhortations to people to group together to fight crime. So I developed the character of Bahadur as someone who helps create a citizens' police force to fight the dacoits."Surti has an interesting explanation for why Bahadur sports a saffron kurta and jeans. "A kurta and saffron were symbols of Indianness. And jeans were a Western import and indicated progress. Hence, the combination," he says. "In fact, I have showed Bahadur and his girlfriend, Bela, in a live-in relationship—something unheard of in those times. But it was very well accepted by the audience."Though Bahadur's portrayal also changed with time as the artists drawing the series changed, the color of his dress remain same until 1986 when it changed to pink,also his trade mark long-hair chopped to shorter & a neat look,which gave him necessary urban look.The another change was that from an orange kurta, he moved to wearing a T shirt. This series stopped in April 1990 when Times of India cancelled the Indrajal Comics that year. Mukhiya had a habit of saying "Kasam Ganga maiya ki" for everything.