Bharath V Murthy

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Productions, will be a comic book on Mahatma Gandhi. Using comics as a medium to engage and interpret the life and work of Gandhi, the project aims to arrive at an imagery, a form of graphics which can depict complex ideas about the legendary figure. Bharath V Murthy is the coordinator for this project. 

Bharath V Murthy is a cartoonist, animator and a filmmaker. He studied painting at the MS University of Baroda and film direction at Satyajit Ray Film & TV Institute, Kolkata. With over ten years of teaching at higher education institutions, including at FTII (Film and Television Institute of India) in Pune and Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, he has helped develop comics as an important area of art, design and liberal arts education. In 2006 he received IFA support to study the comic book culture in India. The Vanished Path: A Graphic Travelogue (HarperCollins India, 2015) is his first book-length comic. In 2017, he co-founded Indie Comix Fest, an annual festival of self-published comics. Given his expertise, he is best placed to be the Project Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA. 

While comics in India have traditionally been aimed at children, this project seeks to create an intellectually ambitious, adult-oriented work on the life of Gandhi that explores complex themes such as his political philosophy, modernity, caste, freedom, and sexuality. This comic will not be a simple illustrated version of existing texts but will feature a blend of historical fiction based on Gandhi’s life and essay-based comics, where the historical episodes are followed by meta-narrative essays that connect Gandhi’s ideas to contemporary issues. Dialogues between the ‘fiction’ and the ‘non-fiction’ parts will be incorporated as a structural element. The comic will focus on thematic chapters rather than a strict chronological structure, with attention to historical and visual accuracy while allowing imaginative elements to convey the philosophical ideas of Gandhi. For example, scenes could depict abstract concepts like 'Ram Rajya' or showcase daily life details such as the making of ashrams and the charkha. The comic will include not just Gandhi’s interactions with major political figures (like Ambedkar, Nehru, Savarkar, and others) but also his collaborators and family, such as his wife Kasturba. The narrative will present different perspectives, including those of his critics.

The outcome of this project will be a 250–280-page black-and-white graphic novel. The Project Coordinator's deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be documentation materials from the project, and a comic book.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice programme in the manner in which it envisions using comics to offer a nuanced, intellectually engaging, and visually rich interpretation of Gandhi's legacy, addressing both his historical context and contemporary relevance.

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees.

This project is made possible with support from Tata Trusts.