Creator Abhishek Sharma talks to After Hrs about the launch of the second installment of his graphic novel and his love for comics

The ‘graphic’ monkey

Creator Abhishek Sharma talks to After Hrs about the launch of the second installment of his graphic novel and his love for comics

After its successful debut last year, Munkeeman is all set to fight villains again. Munkeeman, a graphic novel created by Abhishek Sharma of Tere Bin Laden fame, is going to release its second edition at the Mumbai Film and Comic Convention organised by Comic Con India. Munkeeman is the story of Dheeraj Dhalla who develops monkey-like features after a science experiment goes wrong. “People think of Munkeemann as a monster, a troublemaker, but he considers himself a superhero. And the story is about this fight and his survival,” says Abhishek. The first Munkeeman was set in Delhi, but in the second book, he shifts to Kanpur. “He flees Delhi and chooses Kanpur to escape his fate. But there he is confronted by the tough choice — whether to run away again or stay and fight,” adds Abhishek. The graphic novel is inspired by a real incident where a monkey-like creature created havoc and spread panic among Delhi residents. “In 2001, a monkey-like creature was spotted in Delhi and then a year later he was seen in Kanpur where people named him muhnochwa. I am just following the same pattern for the novel,” he says. So what should the readers expect from the second novel? “In addition to his struggle between hiding and revealing himself, Munkeeman will also battle it out with the nation’s top-secret half man-half machine called Captain Tamga. Also the track of Sayani, with whom he shared a love-hate relationship will be taken forward,” says Abhishek who is excited about the launch at Comic Con Mumbai starting October 20. The filmmaker and graphic novelist says comics have always inspired him. “I am what I am today because I read those comics and imagined the world in them. They gave me the power to think different.” Ask him if he has plans of making the novel into a movie, he instantly refuses. “I want to build the character of Munkeeman first, get people to know him better, understand him. Till then I am not thinking of making it into a movie,” says Abhishek. “Comics have to be revived. They are a combination of literature and visuals, the perfect way to tell a story.”