NAGRAJ: THE RISE, DECILNE AND RISE.
When the next comic, Ichadhari Nagraj was released, the Railway
The story of Nagraj can be divided into 3 stages – (1) Formative Years (2)
Superstar Years and (3) The Decline and Rise Years.
FORMATIVE YEARS (1986 to 1990, Nagraj to Ichadhari Nagraj)
In the highly competitive Hindi Comic Market scenario of the 1980s, the
publication of Nagraj written by Parshuram Sharma in 1986 was a
Milestone. Parshuram Sharma was basically a novel writer whom Raj
Comics hired to create a new Superhero after their existing superheros
Gagan was going down and Vinashdoot was a disaster.
Nagraj was a unique concept as he captured the imagination of the 80s
children by being a snakeman who had a scientific explanation as a
creation of the evil scientist Professor Nagmani. Modelled partly after
James Bond (pretty girls who followed his adventures) and Bruce Lee
(because of his martial arts skill and swiftness), he was the darling of the
majority of the children in the Hindi Speaking belt of India. The most
attractive thing about him was that he was designed by Professor
Nagmani to be the deadliest weapon for terrorists the world over. Instead
in his very first assignment, he was “reformed” by Guru Gorakhnath and
became the most sworn enemy of terrorism with a vow to finish all
terrorists all over the world.
Among his earlier comics, The Khooni Series (Khooni Khoj, Khooni Yatra,
Nagraj ka Insaaf, Khooni Jung and Pralayangkari Nagraj) was lapped up by
children and set him on the path of stardom. By 1987, he was ruling the
roost and Raj Comics meant Nagraj. The Nag-Dweep series in 1990
(Pralayangkari Mani, Shankar Sahanshah, Bachon ke Dushman, Ichadhari
Nagraj and Nagraj aur Kaldoot) was an essential collection in every comic
shelf. It is said that when the comic Bachon ke Dushman ended with two
Nagraj facing each other, the children sent several letters to Raj Comics
office demanding to know the truth behind the mystery. (P-1/7)
Bookstalls were overwhelmed with children who wanted to purchase the
same at any cost. Till date, Ichadhari Nagraj remains Nagraj’s best
remembered and most nostalgic comic. Also it was this series that
introduced magic and fantasy in the world of Nagraj by uncovering an
island (Nagdweep) of shape-shifting snakes (called इत्छाधारी नाग) and he
himself becoming a shape-shifting snake. Critics argue that had this series
not happened and had he been a simple snakeman fighting criminals
around the world, he would have achieved greater glory. But I doubt it .....
Around this time, another snake based hero by the name Tausi was
published by its rival company Tulsi Comics. Although Tausi was a copy of
Nagraj, yet its authors envisioned that snakes are traditionally considered
as heroes only when they have shape shifting abilities. So he was bought
in as a shape shifting snake from the mythological world of Naglok from
the Patal, with no scientific basis. Also he had a love interest by the name
Apsara. As his popularity increased, the think tanks in Raj comics
introduced Nagdweep/ Visharpi and Nagraj become a shape-shifting
snake, by bringing in his long forgotten Guru Goraknath. Thus the fantasy
part was courtesy his rival whom he ultimately killed.
SUPERSTAR YEARS (1990 to 1993, Kaldoot to Phir aaya Nagdant)
In the coming 7 years (till 1993), Nagraj achieved superstardom. Three of
his comics (all published in 1990) were cult classics- (1) Ichadhari Nagraj by
Tarun Kumar Wahi where Nagdant made his debut (2) Nagraj aur Kaldoot
by Raja where Kaldoot made his debut and (3) Tajmahal ki Chori by Raja
where a host of Villains (Miss Killer, Thodanga and Tuten Khaman) were
introduced. Nagraj aur Kaldoot is considered by many people as yet
another landmark comic where the love between Nagraj and Vishapri
bloomed as she saved Nagraj from the fury of Kaldoot. (P-2/7)
It had already been hinted in “Shankar Sahenshah” that she was the lady
for Nagraj but people never knew that they will never get married. On the
negative side this comic started bad artwork for Nagraj which continued
till Anupam Sinha took over.
Tajmahal ki Chori is considered by many people as the 3rd landmark comic
as it set the tone of what Nagraj will do in the next 3-4 years i.e. hunt
down these villains one by one. The host of villains introduced in that
comic are still the main villain in the Nagraj series after the same was
handed over to Anupam Sinha in the dark age of Hindi Comics.
The villains in question are Victar Shakura (an alien dwarf magician),
Thodanga (who is a human cum elephant cum tortoise), Miss Killer (a
powerful Japanese lady scientist) and Tutenkhamen (a centuries old
Parooah with unlimited magic). It was also a nostalgic comic as there is an
auction of Nagraj just like Professer Nagmani did in his first comic and two
of the villains (Gunmaster Hood and Yusuf Bin Ali Khan) makes a return.
After one more title, the age of Special Editions started with Nagraj and
Super Commando Dhruv in 1990 written by Sanjay Gupta which was the
1st time the 2 most popular heroes were together but the storyline was
disgusting (to say the least). What could have been the most epic comic in
the history of Raj Comics was made into a disaster of epic proportions.
Imagine Miss Killer capturing powerful heroes like Parmanu, Gagan and
Vinashdoot and none of them putting up any fight. And Miss Killer giving
clues to the duo to reach her and enjoying herself all the while. What
could be more gross!
In the same set, the first Special Edition of Dhruv was Grand Master Robo
which was again a Milestone, with a heady mix of action, emotion, drama,
tragedy, betrayal and above all a shocking end. It was this comic that
started the superstardom of Dhruv and decline of Nagraj. (P-3/7)
In the next Special Edition called Nagina ka Jaal, the writers made amends
for the above costly error and included a whole gamut of stories about
Nagdweep and powerful snake warriors. It was a much loved comic and
the climax where Nagraj absorbed the powers of the Panchnag was hair
raising. This comic also showed that Professor Nagmani was alive and thus
created more scope for further powerful snakemen.
The next comic to follow was Nagraj aur Jaadu ka Sahenshah which
introduced Saudangi (a shape shifting snakewomen from the underworld
of the Pyramids). She was permitted by Nagraj to live in microscopic form
inside his body and was granted special permission to come out of his
body as and when she deemed fit. After Nagdweep was introduced,
Nagraj was no longer followed by pretty girls in James Bond style. But
Saudangi was his constant companion in the next 3 comics (Ajgar ka
Toofan, Bakora ka Jaadu and Piramidon ki Rani). Many people believe that
there was attempt to create a love triangle between Nagraj, Visharpi and
Saudangi on the lines of Dhruva. However that never came about and in
the next coming adventures, she was simply missing without any
explanation. Also sadly, she never got a big enough role in any of the
Special Editions and was sidelined just for the heck of it.
The 2nd teamup between the 2 bigshoots was Nagraj and Bugaku in 1991
by Sanjay Gupta and was the biggest hit of the entire Nagraj Series. By
that time, the readers were divided into 2 camps - the Nagraj Camp that
loved stories with fantasy and the Dhruva camp that loved stories with
scientific explanations. In Nagraj and Bugaku, Dhruva was shown as the
most incompetent hero that needed to be saved by Nagraj from petty
villains. It was much loved by the majority of the Nagraj fans which
assumed that Nagraj was the numero uno hero and Dhruva was still
considered a B-Grade hero. Little did they realise that the Dhruva used in
Nagraj comics will have no impact on the Dhruva Series being run by
Anupam Sinha. (P-4/7)
It is said that even after the next few comics came, readers still demanded
this comic (Nagraj and Bugaku ) and seeing its popularity, the same was
re- published.
But the artwork that worsened from Nagraj and Kaldoot continued and in
some cases worsened. The last hit of Nagraj was Phir Aaya Nagdant in
1993 by Tarun Kumar Wahi while Dhruv was on a exponential rise curve.
Although people loved this comic, many people were against the killing of
Nagdant, whom people saw as the only potential villain who could have
challenged Nagraj, blow by blow.
DECLINE AND RISE YEARS (1993 to 1996, Mister 420 to Khazana)
The comics that followed (Mister 420, Nagraj aur Nagina, Thodanga ki
Maut and Bem Bem Bigalo, all in 1993) were complete disasters save
Nagraj aur Nagina. The artwork also had gone bad to worse and there was
no supporting cast at all. There was no story arc as they were one shot
comics penned by different writers. Also Thodanga was a major villain and
the readers expected him to die after a climactic battle (or at least in a
Special Edition). His simple death was a major disappointment. Bem Bem
Bigalo was Nagraj’s last normal comic, after which the era of Special
Editions started.
Between 1993 and 1995, Nagraj saw 13 titles and 4 different writers- Raja,
Tarun Kumar Wahi, Hanif Azhar and Sanjay Gupta. As different writers
tried different approaches, 4 of Nagraj's worst titles came out in 1994 - (1)
Nagraj aur Miss Killer by Tarun Kumar Wahi (2) Nagraj aur Tutentu by
Tarun Kumar Wahi (3) Nagraj aur Kanja by Tarun Kumar Wahi and (4)
Nagraj aur Paapraj by Hanif Azhar that literally killed Nagraj Comics. One
of the reasons for the Dark Age of Hindi Comics (1997 to 2003) was that
the best known hero of Hindi Comics was delivering flop after flop and
there was no consistency. Imagine a powerful villainess like Miss Killer
fighting Nagraj with glue. (P-5/7)
Tutentu was even more ridiculous as the source of the Villian’s power was
never revealed. The leser said about Kanja and Paapraj, the better. They
are in fact a shameful bolt in the Nagraj Series.
On the other hand, Dhruv had become the Super Star with a host of
colourful villains, impressive supporting cast and the love triangle
between Dhruv, Natasha and Blackcat was the icing on the cake. The head
honchos of Raj Comics were worried for they saw Nagraj going the same
way as Gagan and Vinashdoot, which if not contained meant that their
bottomline was going kaput. So they came up with a simple solution- let
the creator of Dhruv become the writer of Nagraj. Thus ANUPAM SINHA
came into the picture and he twisted the storyline of Visharpi ki Shaadi. He
showed that Nagraj was offered the choice of staying in Nagdweep, wed
Visharpi and rule over the snakes. Or he was to leave Nagdweep and go on
fighting terrorism. He choose the latter and followed his dreams of a
palace which later led him to his immortal uncle, Nagpasha.
He re-created the backstory of Nagraj with a series of 5 Special Editions-
(1) Shakura ka Chakravyuh in which Shakura was the villain alongwith
Nagina (2) Nagraj ka Aant where Nagdant was bought back to life (3) Zehar
where Prof. Nagmani was the villain (4) Nagpasha where Vedacharya and
Bharati were bought to limelight and (5) Khazana, which is again a cult –
classic and in which the origin story of Nagraj was totally revised. It made
three major changes in the Nagraj Storyline.
1) From a globe totting Superhero, he became the protector of a
fictional city called Mahanagar, much like Dhruv in Rajnagar.
2) He had an alter ego called Raj who was a Newspaper Reporter and
maintained close relations with Vedacharya and Bharati aka Faceless.
3) He was made a nephew of an immortal villian called Nagpasha who
tried to kill him in the womb. This Nagpasha became his pet villain
just like Grand Master Robo for Dhruva – always managing to run
away in the end. (P- 6/7)
This new Nagraj series (sometimes called the Nagpasha Series) divided the
Nagraj Fans into two groups. The classical readers who didn’t want Nagraj
to be a hero on the lines of Dhruva missed his globe-trotting adventures
and were rather disgusted at his new origin story, which showed that
Nagmani had little role in making him. It was totally against the
conventional thoughts that Nagraj was an invention of Nagmani. Also, it
was simply unfathomable for them that Nagraj did not dream about his
birthplace for 9 years (1986 to 1995) and then suddenly decides to follow
his dreams. This removed many people from reading comics and was one
of the major reasons for the Dark Age.

The new readers who didn’t care about the past and just wanted good
comics for their favourite superhero were happy that they were getting
their money’s worth. Then Anupam Sinha played a master stroke and
bought out “ Rajnagar ki Tabahi” where his two most popular heroes
Nagraj and Super Commando Dhruva squared off against each other. It
was in the main continuity of both heroes and from there, Nagraj’s ship
was stabilized.

This new age Nagraj continued to receive newer powers as the series
progressed (thanks to his clan God Kaljaye) and Raj Comics was able to kill
off its competitors- Tulsi Comics and Manoj Comics. Oh! By the way, its
bottomline was boosted but the traditional readers of Nagraj were turned
away.

To entice them, Raj comics started 2 more Nagraj series- Aatankharta

Nagraj which was a globe totting Superhero and Naraknashak Nagraj
which was a warrior against Supernatural villains. Their success is below
par as readers were totally confused with 3 Nagraj series running
simultaneously.

But the original Nagraj by Anupam Sinha continued to get better and
better and thus Raj Comics was able to survive the Dark Age. (P-7/7)