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Remember endless summer vacations spent curled up in the living room or under a big shady tree (those of us that were lucky enough) following the hilarious deeds of Supandi or being lost in bygone times of brave princes, beautiful princesses and evil warlords? That was thanks to the brightly coloured comic books from Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle Magazine.

And now ACK Media, a new entrant into the entertainment and education company for young audiences, has announced the acquisition of the popular series from India Book House (IBH).

And if you are worried that our favourite characters will all be consigned to the recycle bin, Samir Patil, CEO, ACK Media, hastens to say that nothing of the sort will happen.

Patil says: “In fact, we have retained the name ACK which can be expanded into Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd. so that the brand stays alive with the company.

“The idea is to create an integral online media company. Earlier Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) and Tinkle were only in the forms of books but now you can get them in their virtual avatars in the forms of toys, puzzles and posters,” explains Patil.

To go beyond the “only a comic book” for a set number of children “to reach out to a larger section, including NRIs, as a children’s media company, is the aim,” adds Patil.

About expectations, Patil says: “It’s actually a burden and a challenge. There will definitely be new ideas and new characters. But we have to make it less about the medium and more about the brand. With our online version, we want to break the space barrier, hence, it is good to start with a well-known brand. ACK has lasted 40 years because of its quality and excellence, and to maintain that will really be our challenge.”

Patil and his team have already set up the online version, where two new stores have been opened and children from any part of the world can buy them and read them, become a member of the online club, write their stories and so on. They can also download wall papers and play games. “We have right now created a site, which is absolutely safe for children. They can also earn virtual money and then buy gifts from the online stores with it.” But parents need “not worry about the safety of the children” when online, for “all interactions are moderated by the online Tinkle staff. We will be strict about the promotions we allow too. In terms of the type of content, the site continues the tradition of Tinkle magazine with a mix of stories, science, travel and general knowledge.”

The characters will be digitised and the distribution will be better, says Patil and adds that the brand helps educate children because “these characters introduce the children to Indian culture, history and art.”

What happens when they run out of stories from the mythology? “That will never happen. The sea of Indian stories is so vast that even if you spend an entire lifetime using them you never exhaust them. Besides mythology, ACK brings out stories under the categories of fables, history and biographies, which are popular.”

Patil’s next attempt is to re-print about 200 copies of ACK and Tinkle comics for he feels “one whole new generation has missed out on reading them”.

But all these business and marketing strategies are “to emphasise the way we think about the brand. Make it appealing to Indian children of all age groups. And make the tag ‘made in India’ a world class one”.

To get on to the online version, log on to www.tinkleonline.com.

SHILPA SEBASTIAN R.

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