RE-CAST: Toons and comics in symbols

It's a perennial question: which do better, comic books or animated cartoons? In 2001, Amar Chitra Katha's Uncle (Anant) Pai sold 13 of his cartoon strip characters for animation. Jataka Tales is next to go on the drawing board.

Padmalaya Telefilms, a Hyderabad-based feature film studio, is now translating the ancient tales, supposedly written by Pandit Vishnu Sharma to educate recalcitrant princes, into a multi-crore animation series in association with Film Club USA. Film Club had done a similar job with Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. The 200-episode Jataka series is aimed mainly at the global market because, as Srinivasa Rao, Padmalaya's senior vice-president, says, "About 75 per cent of the audience for animation is still in the US." As a pre-sales exercise, Padmalaya even screened pilots at the Cannes Film Festival a year ago.

The comics-to-screen genre works the other way round too. Aamir Khan must have gauged its potential when he adapted Lagaan, a full-length feature film, into a comic book. Cartoon Network, beaming to over 23 million cable homes in the Asia-Pacific region, is re-casting its line-up of cartoon characters in a 36-page English comic book series. The ones that made the switchover: Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, The Powerpuff Girls, Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones and The Jetsons. The network is also working on regional versions for later this year. The Powerpuff Girls will now squeal in Telugu.

-Methil Renuka

GOLDEN PUMPKIN

STICK' EM UP: Gill sacks first, talks later

The verdict is in: "Supercop" K.P. S. Gill could handle terrorism but, nine years on, still cannot tackle Indian hockey. Thanks to Gill and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) he presides over, the country has at least established a record: Cedric D'Souza became the first coach to be sacked during a World Cup, returning home from Kuala Lumpur midway through his team's nightmare.

After the Indians failed to win any of their first four matches, Gill settled on his patented response: rough justice. Damage control was attempted by saying D'Souza had been "rested" but the "encounter" had taken its toll.

Gill's entire kingdom is in a shambles: the team has seen 13 coaches in 11 years and its selection process is so mysterious you could open an X-file on it. Just before the World Cup, Gill cashed in on the goodwill towards the team and called for IHF elections. He won again. A French monarch once famously declared: "Apres MOI, le deluge (After me, the deluge)". With K.P.S. Gill in charge, deluge and destruction are already at hand. It's the "after" that Indian hockey lives for.

SIGNPOSTS

APPOINTED: Lt-General Kamal Davar, as director-general of the Defence Intelligence Agency.

DIED: K.V. Raghunath Reddy, 77, former governor of Tripura and West Bengal, in Delhi.

CONVICTED: Author Arundhati Roy, by the Supreme Court, for contempt of court.

ALLOTED: By Bharat Sanchar Nigam, toll-free public utility phone numbers. Call 1077 for your district magistrate.

APPOINTED: Archana Sunderlingam, as the first woman joint director of the CBI.

DIED: Ron Hendrix, 81, veteran sports journalist, in Bangalore.

DIED: Yaduendra Sahai, 61, historian, in Jaipur.

AWARDED: The Grammy for Best World Music, to sitarist Ravi Shankar, for Full Circle/ Carnegie Hall 2000.