A few days ago, a picture went viral on social media, which is a photograph of Shahrukh Khan’s private office. Although it is a picture of an office, there was a surprising element in the form of an image placed there – it was the image of the character “Bahadur” from Indrajal comics. This led to speculations on social media that Shahrukh Khan might be working on a film related to “Bahadur.” In fact, this speculation is quite old, dating back almost a decade when there were rumors that Shahrukh Khan was acquiring the rights to Indrajal comics and considering making a movie based on it. This has reignited hopes in the hearts of fans, as “Bahadur” was a superhero of the 1970s, possessing no extraordinary powers but never backing down from fighting crime.
The character “Bahadur” was created by Abid Surti in 1976, and Indrajal comics published it. Abid Surti was freelancing for Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited at that time. After his departure, Jagjit Uppal took over, followed by Govind Brahmaniya’s illustrations and later his son B. Pramod’s. The comics were published in various languages such as Hindi, English, and Bengali. Apart from regular comics, the character was also depicted alongside other humorous heroes in dailies and weeklies.
In the early comics, Bahadur fights against dacoits, as the 1970s was a time when dacoits held a reign of terror in the Chambal region. However, as times changed, Bahadur was transitioned from a small-town setting to a more modern urban environment, where he became a spy.
Abid Surti revealed that he began the character “Bahadur” as a comic strip in 1976. The character was created in response to the popularity of foreign comics like Phantom, Mandrake, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan in the Indian market. “Bahadur” was crafted as a civilian police force officer who aids in fighting dacoits, as Chambal was becoming infamous for criminal activities.
When asked about Bahadur’s distinctive attire, Surti explained that Bahadur’s saffron kurta and jeans were symbolic. Saffron or Yellow kurta represented Indian identity, while the jeans represented Western influence and progress. Bahadur’s character was portrayed in a live-in relationship with his love interest Bela, which was bold for that time but was accepted by the audience.
Over time, Bahadur’s appearance evolved, but his attire remained consistent with orange kurta and blue jeans until 1986, when his clothing style underwent changes to suit different missions. However, after 1990, Bahadur comics stopped publishing due to factors like market competition from other comic series.
Today, after many years, Shahrukh Khan’s office picture has sparked renewed interest in Bahadur. Now, there’s hope that the audience might get to see Bahadur on the big screen, reliving the era of fighting dacoits.
