Amar Chitra Katha celebrates 55 years of telling stories from Indian heritage with Rana Daggubati. This year’s theme for Amar Chitra Katha Day is ‘Beyond Nostalgia’, which perfectly encapsulates the ever-evolving nature of the brand. This day is dedicated to the young and old readers through various online and offline events.
Over the past 55 years, Amar Chitra Katha has expanded its base beyond print. It has a robust digital content library, including multiple TV shows, web series, podcasts, board games, mobile apps, and movies. Its content has evolved across social media channels, too, including YouTube.
Indian Actor and company promoter Rana Daggubati said, “Amar Chitra Katha is a national treasure that has helped preserve Indian heritage and acquaint it with generations of readers. The ACK universe of stories has inspired me since my childhood and continues to make an impact even today. I wish Amar Chitra Katha a glorious 55th birthday! May it continue to be a timeless storyteller.”
Amar Chitra Katha executive editor Reena I. Puri said, “I know our Founder Editor, Anant Pai, would smile with satisfaction on seeing his brainchild’s path. Always looking at the future and envisioning Amar Chitra Katha as ever-growing and adapting to changing times and thoughts, he thought of comics at a time when the format was frowned upon by adults but loved by children. Today, we continue on the same path of innovating and reaching out to readers through new storytelling platforms. The pace of creating new comics is faster than ever in our 55-year history. Last year, we created over a thousand pages of fresh content. At 55, Amar Chitra Katha is going strong, and we’ll be celebrating that with pride and joy.”
Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle art director Savio Mascarenhas said, “It gives me immense joy to see Amar Chitra Katha reach a new milestone. The brand’s evolution is visible in every little aspect of art, narration, and story choices, connecting with and adapting to every generation more strongly than ever. When we created comics five decades ago, we used a simple 24 watercolour palette. Today we use the latest illustration techniques and art equipment to create our comics. What has remained unchanged is the hand-drawn beginning of every comic even today, which lends each book the iconic Amar Chitra Katha art style.”
Amar Chitra Katha president and CEO Preeti Vyas said, “It is our absolute honor and pride to celebrate the milestone of 55 years of Amar Chitra Katha. From creating reels on Instagram to experimenting with metaverse, we have branched out and spread our roots into newer narrative styles and technologies. And while doing so, we do not forget our core values and mission of providing a crucial link to India’s grand past through comics for multiple generations of Indian children beyond nostalgia.”
To commemorate the grand milestone, Amar Chitra Katha has planned numerous activities and events. These include exciting offers at their partner stores, contests on their social handles, a physical storytelling session on the Adventures of the Indus Valley, Buddha, and Mahavira, and a museum tour in collaboration with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, which lots of other fun activities will follow, virtual storytelling and quiz and the launch of their latest release ‘Buying a Song and Other Folktales.’ In association with CRY, Amar Chitra Katha will celebrate the day in a BMC school with a fun storytelling session in Hindi, games, and food distribution. Each child will get a book as part of the event!