For centuries, women have faced violence because of their gentle nature. They’ve endured abuse due to this very trait. Every time a woman raised her voice against these injustices, the violence against her escalated. Sometimes, she was forced to become a widow and burned alive with her deceased husband, and sometimes for dowry. Sometimes, men went to the extreme of killing women by aborting them while they were still in the womb. Against these atrocities, the goddess Kali has empowered a woman and named her Shakti.
Chanda is the embodiment of the power of emotions. She was a simple housewife, but one day she discovered that her husband was killing her daughters with the help of a doctor as soon as they were born. When she raised her voice against this, the hospital doctors and her husband Dinesh brutally assaulted her and threw her into a dark valley. The brutality and injustice of all this ignites the volcano of anger inside her, which reaches the heavens in smoke. To deliver justice, Goddess Kali transforms Chanda’s body into power. As a symbol of power, Chanda kills her husband. Chanda keeps herself busy with hospital and social work. She has a third eye, which is a symbol of Goddess Kali, but she covers it with a headband, pretending to use it to alleviate her chronic migraines.
Usually, when a superhero is introduced, their solo comic is presented to readers. However, perhaps due to funding constraints or uncertainty about whether readers would buy a female superhero’s solo comic, Raj Comics initially showcased Shakti alongside characters like Doga, Super Commando Dhruva, Parmanu, Nagraj, Bhediya, Inspector Steel, and Anthony. This is where Shakti, the story of Chanda’s life, ran alongside these characters.
Bambi
In the comic, Shakti first appears to readers, encountering Nagraj right away. It turns out that a snake named Shanku wants to harm Bharati, and when Shakti arrives upon hearing her scream, Shanku flees in fear of Nagraj. Seeing Bharati unconscious alongside Nagraj, Shakti mistakenly believes Nagraj to be the one who harmed her. Thinking this, she attacks him, but Nagraj manages to evade her. Bharati wakes up and explains everything to Shakti at the right moment.
Doga – Shakti
“Doga – Shakti” comics are special for all readers because in the “Bambi” comics, when Shakti first appeared before Nagraj, readers were told that in the “Doga – Shakti” comics, everyone would learn about Shakti’s life, specifically how she transformed from Chanda to Shakti. However, this comic doesn’t delve much into Shakti’s past life as Chanda; it mainly focuses on how she acquired her powers. It shows her helping a helpless woman targeted by a dangerous criminal. Doga is also involved in pursuing this criminal, leading to a clash between Doga and Shakti amidst these events.
Paramanu-Shakti
After the “Doga – Shakti” comics, Chanda is shown in Delhi after moving from Mumbai, where she helps her husband Dinesh’s step-sister, Mamta Pathak. Mamta Pathak, also known as Pralayanka, is an ally of Paramanu. In the “Paramanu-Shakti” comics, Dinesh Pathak is portrayed as a smuggler, and he collaborates with a fraudulent Baba Chandrakal. Mamta Pathak suspects her stepbrother and spies on him, but the Baba and Dinesh catch her in the act. They send a hired killer named Parshai to eliminate her, but Paramanu arrives just in time. Here too, Shakti ends up confronting Paramanu due to a misunderstanding, but Paramanu succeeds in explaining Shakti with the help of his professor uncle. Alongside this, Chanda, or Shakti, not only saves Mamta Pathak but also throws Dinesh Pathak into the same death valley where he once threw her.
Dhruv-Shakti
“Dhruv Shakti” also involves a clash between Super Commando Dhruva and Shakti due to a misunderstanding involving a powerful entity named ‘Prachanda,’ an evil force captured centuries ago by some sorcerers to prevent harm to humans. However, Natasha, in her quest to obtain power, accidentally sets Prachanda free and becomes possessed by its power herself. Prachanda was so formidable that even Shakti struggled against it once. Dhruva, using his intellect, not only frees Natasha from Prachanda’s captivity but also dispels the misunderstanding surrounding Shakti. Amidst all this, readers get a glimpse into Chanda’s past life, including her old love interest, Tarun, who once studied with her in college but was forcefully married to Dinesh Thakur by Chanda’s politician father. This comic also showcases various other miraculous feats of Shakti, such as her ability to send her different forms simultaneously to help others in need.
Shakti is the supreme manifestation of Goddess Kali. Kali is the destroyer of demons and the ultimate power of womanhood. Her strong desire is to ensure justice for women in this world. Anywhere in the world, the distressful cries of a woman, when heard, transform Chanda from her ordinary self into a ruthless avenger known as Shakti. Shakti is Mahakali – the great Kali.
She possesses the wrathful power of women worldwide. She can feel the cries and pain of any woman in the world and travel at the speed of light by transforming into light. The incredible amount of her energy, when released, melts all metals and instantly shapes and designs them through the power of her mind. When she opens her third eye situated on her forehead in anger, it emits rays of hell to burn the cause of her anger. Physically, she is the strongest character in the Raj Comics universe. She can easily lift an airplane and travel at the speed of light. In the “Trikali” comics, she undertook time travel with her super speed. She also possesses supernatural powers and resilience.
