Sumit Kumar, founder of comics and animation studio Bakarmax, is gearing up for the pre-production of his animated show Aapki Poojita (Yours, Poojita). Describing the show, Sumit said, “In India, everyone is obsessed with the idea of a ‘good girl'. Poojita is extremely ‘good’, so much so that it becomes a satire on the concept itself.” Aapki Poojita is touted as India’s first animated show for grown-ups.
For something that started out as a passion project while he was working on the first Comic Con, Bakarmax has now come a long way. Currently, the studio not just makes comics and animations, but also uses humour to discuss political narratives. It also provides a platform for aspiring cartoonists and other contributors to submit their work.
Sumit began his career interning with cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma. He later worked with the firm that organised India's first Comic Con, which is a convention for comics and pop culture. Speaking to TNM at the 9th edition of the convention at Bengaluru, Sumit said, “Comic Con India has had a great impact on my career. As someone who loves comics, the inception of Comic Con was gratifying in itself. I am honoured to see the growth of this convention and it gives me immense pleasure that I was able to contribute to it.”
Speaking about how he started doing political cartoons, Sumit said, “When I saw that Newslaundry was looking for someone to do political cartoons, I jumped at the opportunity like an assignment. I had never read Indian political history until then.” While some people feel strongly about the country and the politics surrounding it, very few have read its history, according to him. “Some of us feel strongly and get into arguments, but most of us haven’t read the history. When I started working on my political novels, I realised that history plays out differently when you take together day-to-day happenings and the three-line summaries that most of us know about what happened in India,” he said.
While he was researching for his projects, he had the opportunity to read and understand history. “I write from the perspective of someone who is getting to understand history for the first time,” Sumit added. Sumit is also the author of political graphic novels Kashmir Ki Kahani and Amar Bari Tomar Bari Naxalbari.
Among Sumit’s various works is an animated sketch titled Dalit Card. The sketch uses humour to mock people who pose an array of questions to a Dalit person. These range from asking what their caste is, to posting casteist slurs online. Talking about how he came up with the idea behind the sketch, Sumit said that it started out when someone told him to not use the ‘Dalit card’. “I am a Dalit and I am among the first generation to get three meals a day. The whole subject of being a Dalit isn’t discussed a lot. A senior designer at Bakarmax came up with the idea of an actual card and we went ahead, decided to launch it as a real card and made an explainer video in desi style.”
Sumit told TNM that people’s opinions change when he tells them that he is a Dalit. “They see you differently and start treating you differently, which is why I have always believed in confidently talking about my identity,” he said.