Heroes and heroines in Indian comics-expert exponents of Kalaripayattu

Kalaripayattu, the 900-year-old combat art form from Kerala, is described as a “psychophysical” exercise because it uses physical rigour to discipline the mind. It has now inspired a graphic novel titled ‘Odayan’. It was conceived by writers Suhas Sundar and Deepak Sharma of ‘Level 10 Comics’. They found protagonists of popular comic book series, like Ninjas and Samurais, run-of-the-mill and looked for inspiration on their own turf’. The obvious choice became Kalaripayattu, which has many active practitioners of the art, even in streams like dance and theatre, and now, books and comics. Kalaripayattu has been featured prominently in Hindi films like Asoka the Great, Dil Se, and Raavan.