New Delhi: Perhaps no cartoon character in the country holds greater endurance than an avuncular short statured man sporting a thick bristling moustache and a blazing red turban. Chacha Chaudhury, the neighbourhood genius who rapidly became a household name endeared himself to both children and grown ups alike, giving a homegrown comic character to Indians who uptill then had to make do with reproductions of foreign titles like ‘Phantom’ and ‘Superman’.
Creator of the iconic character, Pran Kumar Sharma, popularly known as Pran, breathed his last at the age of 75 leaving behind a unmatched legacy and a void in the cartooning landscape that comic aficionados believe will be hard to fill.
He succumbed to cancer at a hospital in Gurgaon.
Born in Kasur, near Lahore in undivided India in 1938, Mr Pran began his career in 1960 as a cartoonist for the Delhi-based newspaper Milap with comic strip Daabu.
In 1969, Pran sketched Chacha Chaudhary for another historic Hindi magazine Lotpot, which made him famous.
Mr Pran was approached by Mr Gulshan Rai of diamond comics in 1981 and thus began an association that continued for the next 35 years.
Most people recall with nostalgia their growing up years reading the exploits of Chacha and his inseparable companion Sabu who is from Jupiter, the villainous Raka, the stout Chachi, the mischievous Billoo and playful Pinki, Raman and Shrimatiji among other memorable characters.
In his career spanning over five decades, the veteran cartoonist went on to create a desi version of the great Laurel and Hardy, another series of comedy, celebrated all over the world .
Numerous awards were conferred on Mr Pran including a mention in the Limca Book of Records in 1995 as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award 2001 from Indian Institute of Cartoonists.
TheWorld Encyclopedia of Comics describes him as the “Walt Disney of India” and the Chacha Chaudhary strip is featured at the US-based International Museum of Cartoon Art.
