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58 — MARCH 2013 W O R D S : A D I T Y A K U N D A L K A R Mumbai’s crime scene gets a graphic makeover by writer Saurav Mohapatra and artist Vivek Shinde BOOKS Sin city For Bollywood in the Seven- ties and Eighties, Mumbai was the go-to crime capital. Lately, lms like Gangs Of Wasseypur and Ka- haani have shifted the focus to badlands elsewhere . In the world of graphic novels, however, the nan- cial capital’s gutter-riddl ed gangland – and the cinema it spawned – con- tinues to be a source of inspiration. Take, for example, writer Saurav Mohapatra and artist Vivek Shinde’s graphic series Mumbai Con- dential from early last year, which draws on stories from the city’s seamy underbelly and is inspired by action sequences from John Woo movies. While the story of MC isn’t new – encounter specialist Arjun Kadam is caught in a corrupt system that challenges his sense of justice – this return to Mumbai’s underworld is compelling for its vivid artwork. Over email from San Francisco, Mohapatra gave us his take on crime ction in India, and what to expect from MC in the future. How did Vivek and you meet? Vi vek and I both wor ked for the short-lived Virgin Comics. We never got to work on a title together, but the world of comics is small, so we knew of each other and frequently chatted over IM. When Virgin shut shop, I was weeknights. Jokes apart, I’m quite comfortable working remotely. I co- founded a startup called dimdim.com, which made web-based collabora- tion software. In a way, I almost think that Vivek continues to work with me only because he has never met me in person! Is the next instalment of Mum- bai Condential on its way, or does this hardbound edition mean this is it? It’s denitely on the way! We’ve always viewed MC as a universe, à la Sin City . We’re currently choos- ing the plot and setting for the next instalment. W e’ve got some great responses to the short stories – the “Interludes”, which are interspersed with the main narrative – in Vol 1. We might do an interim project with more in-universe shorts before Vol 2. So, as St Arnold of Schwarzenegger once said: “We’ll be back!” What’s your take on the new crime movies coming out of Bollywood – the Wasseypur lms, for instance? Will we see already in the process of eshing out Mumbai Condential as a concept. Vi vek’ s p ain ted , hyp er -re al sty le seemed like a great t, and he was itching to use it in a project. Things sort of happened from there. Vivek’s in Mumbai, you’re in San Francisco. How did you recon- cile time zones? I slept three to four hours on your spin on smaller Indian cities, too? They’re refreshing. GoW is an awe- somely executed piece of storytelling , a triumph of characters and milieu. You know what’s going to hap- pen. Y ou’ve seen it in newspaper headlines, in umpteen movies. Yet, it holds your attention. The characters are larger than life and realistic at the same time. Th e same is true of the way it’s been directed. I once read a piece of advice on building a scene: The gunshot is inevitable, so don’t waste time describing it. Y ou’re better off nding a new way to build up to the gunshot. As for the small-town setting, I’m currently working with an India- based publisher on my rst long- form novel called The Night Train Chronicles – it’s a magic realism/hor- ror story set in the Indian hinterland and its one-horse towns. Has the iPad – or comic book technology for tablets in general – inuenced your work? Made- re, for instance, has embedded soundclips and makes use of the iPad's motion sensors. The iPad, or for that matter, any seven- or 11-inch tablet, takes care of an important detail in the transition from print to digital comics: Y ou get more real estate, so you feel less constrained to produce something grid-like. Madere is certainly a technology to watch out for, not least because the extremely talented Ben Aberna- thy, previously of DC/WildStorm, is now involved with it. The problem that all next-gen technologies must surmount is how much of the old and new to blend together. Humans, statistically, like the 90 per cent old/ 10 per cent new combination. W e tend not to accept something that’s too radical. PANEL EXPERTS Saurav Mohapatra and Vivek Shinde capture the gritty, merciless world of police encounters The hardbound edition of Mumbai Confidential is out this month. mumbaiconfidential.com Saga Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ space-age fantasy Manhattan Projects A new history of the end of WWII Fatale Supernatural noir by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Criminal An early series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips A Reason For Dragons By Chris Northrop and Jeff Stokely Sharaz-De English edition by Italian artist Sergio Toppi
