7 August 2014

Pran, the Creator of Chacha Chowdhury died at 75

Pran Kumar Sharma, the eminent cartoonist who created the comic book character like Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu died on 6 August 2014. He was 75. He died due to cancer of the intestine in a hospital in Gurgaon.

Popularly known as Pran, he is survived by a son and a daughter.

About Pran Kumar Sharma (Pran)

• As a cartoonist, he began his career in 1960 for a Delhi-based newspaper Milap with a comic strip Daabu
• He created or sketched Chacha Chaudhary for the Hindi magazine Lotpot in 1969, this character was the one that made him famous. His Chacha Chaudhary strips found a permanent place in International Museum of Cartoon Art, USA
• Some family characters created by Pran and published in Indian magazines were Shrimatiji, Pinki, Billoo, Raman and Channi Chachi
• For popularizing comics in India, his name was included in People of the Year 1995 by Limca Book of Records
• His comics named Raman Ham Ek Hain that promoted national integration was released in 1983, by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi
• He received a Lifetime Achievement Award 2001 from the Indian Institute of Cartoonists
• According to Maurice Horn notes, Pran was given a title of Walt Disney of India in the World Encyclopedia of Comics
• He was born on 15 August 1938 in Kasur near Lahore (now Pakistan)