It’s time to pull out all your ‘May the 4th be with you’ jokes, because it’s finally that time of the year again. Star Wars Day celebrates all things from the ultimate sci-fi franchise, that’s won loyal fans all over the world. And with the celebrations on across the globe, India isn’t far behind either, with fans in the country planning Star Wars marathons and more.
Bengaluru-based Nakul M Dev, an account manager at a creative agency, fondly recounts how he was introduced to the series, “When I was a kid, I happened to get my first Darth Vader water bottle as part of a meal from KFC. It was a re-release of the entire Rogue One series. Then I watched Return of the Jedi, which was my first starwars movie and since then I’ve been obsessed with collecting all sorts of memorabilia, from bobbleheads to pen drives.” He also shares that his creative agency painted a humongous Yoda and this year, he will be celebrating by marathoning the entire series, starting with Rogue One. Ask him about the upcoming movie and he says, “Although there are tons of rumours, I can’t wait to see more of Luke! The force is strong with him.”
DJ Phani Kumar also has a fascination with characters from the franchise, especially Stormtroopers and Darth Vader. He shares, “Every time a movie releases, I am eager to see how it is connected with the previous editions and how it can be more futuristic for the other releases. I’ve also done a photo series of my Stormtrooper miniatures in unique places in Chennai.” He also tells us that he plans to celebrate this day in style by releasing his original remixed version of the Star Wars theme.
I was always more of a Star Trek fan, but a friend of mine suggested I give Star Wars a shot two years back, and I was hooked. I loved how there was a fight between the light and the dark side. How the story twists itself around individuals and individuality is what makes it interesting. At the end of the day, it becomes one’s own choice to choose a path. I’m also a fan of the Light Sabers and I have one of my own!” exclaims Gowrishanker Siva, the founder of Madras Comic Fest, who has also cosplayed Star Wars characters with his friends for The Force Awakens’ premiere.
He adds, “I remember a celebration at Sathyam Cinemas for the release of The Force Awakens, for which I cosplayed as Darth Bane. Darth Bane is one of the most powerful Sith lords who created the Rule of Two. Star Wars Day would definitely be remembered among the fans and we will be quite active on social media, posting a lot of Star Wars information, However, we, fans from Chennai, would like to reserve our biggest celebration for the release of The Last Jedi probably towards the end of this year.”
Varsha Chakkera, an illustrator, says, “Although I’m a casual fan, Star Wars’ prequels set a precedent for me. Watching this grand space opera that unites people from all walks of life was impactful.”
“I have earlier done an illustration with Princess Leia and Ray side by side, because Ray seems to be a mix of a Studio Ghibli character and Leia all in one. And I adored how powerful Leia was.” She goes on to say, “I’m hoping to do another illustration, if not today but in the near future, maybe an Indianised version of Star Wars fan art!”
