The axe-wielding god Parashurama plunges his weapon into the sea, all the way from Kanyakumari to beyond the coast of Gokarnam (present-day Gokarna), and the resulting tremor creates the land of Bhargav Kshetram. In this newly formed land, the warrior-god establishes schools of Kalaripayattu. He breaks his axe into 21 pieces and gives each school a piece.

As you open the first few pages of the graphic novel Odayan , written by Suhas Sundar and sketched by Deepak Sharma, the above myth comes to life in panel after panel filled with shades of yellow, red and black... except for Odayan’s face, painted in green, much like a Kathakali artiste. Odayan (a play on the Malayalam udayan , meaning sunrise) chronicles the life of a mythical warrior who is on a mission to collect all the pieces of Parashurama’s axe. It is a highly layered, sardonic take on the quintessential anti-hero. In an email interview, Sundar and Sharma describe the processes that go into creating this martial arts series, seven volumes of which have been released.

Who is Odayan? Where did the inspiration for the character come from?

Odayan is a criminal but, like all villains, his descent into evil was propagated by tragedy. He is partly inspired by the legend of Tachcholi Othenan, but our character isn’t a hero from folklore.

Can you tell us a bit about Bhargava Kshetram and the period in which the graphic novel is set?

Bhargava Kshetram is a feudal land set against the backdrop of 15th century Kerala at the height of trade and the Zamorin’s rule. We’ve taken certain liberties with the time frame and the setting to aid the story-telling process. What was confounding to us is the lack of literature on the subject; one book that was helpful to us, though, was Phillip B. Zarrilli’s When the Body Becomes All Eyes: Paradigms, Practices and Discourses of Power in Kalarippayattu, a South Indian Martial Art .

So there was a lot of research and pre-production?

Yes, especially artistic research. A lot of reading was required to visually present an era for which not many references exist. Things such as social structure, economy, fashion, arts and craft, architecture, modes of transport, trade, etc of that time period. But a bit of artistic freedom was also taken to make the final product more palatable. For example, only the women of wealthy households were fully clothed and it was not a taboo for the other women to not be fully covered in that time period.

How did you weave history, mythology and hearsay into one tight, composite unit?

Since there is so much legend to draw from, it’s important to pick and choose what to incorporate and what to leave out. It’s a bit of a challenge balancing all these elements together, but by focusing on the main set of characters and their storylines, the tale became easier to put together.

And the actual creative process, what was that like?

While the writer governs the ‘voice and sound’ of the story, the artist governs the ‘sight’. We broke down each facet of the written script into a visual narrative, placing them in storyboards. A powerful dialogue needs to be accompanied by equally powerful imagery, so as to amplify the reading experience. The artist works out the intricacies of the visuals, based on the initial research and his own experience, much akin to the writer’s own process of writing. For example, after the writer says that the scene takes place outside a temple, the artist will embellish that, finding out what a temple of that era looked like, and try to capture all the detailed woodwork famous in that period. The artist acts like the director of a movie working from a screenplay. There is a constant exchange of ideas between the two in this creative process. The most agreeable ideas are fleshed out first as a working layout, then as a pencilled page, which is then inked, coloured and lettered.

While the storyline and the words gave a strongly “rooted to the region” feel, the artwork showed a more generic, universal style. Do you agree?

By more generic, universal style if you mean realistic, then yes! Drawing in a realistic style helps in the suspension of disbelief. It allows the freedom to explore an era for which not much visual reference actually exists. Our approach has always been to satisfy readers from everywhere with different layers in the visual narrative. For example, readers from the region where the story takes place will understand why all the male characters have their hair tied in a bun and are mostly dressed in just dhoti. The main protagonist and the rivals he fights are given a buffed-up physique because we are talking about characters who lead a martial life. They lived and died by the sword. This is an era in which violence was commonplace and as such, the characters need to look like they could dish out vengeful retribution at the drop of a hat.

How is the response to the series? Is the online version selling better than the hard copy?

Both versions have seen a healthy uptake. The readership and awareness of the character just keep growing, as evidenced by the fan art that has started to spring up online. Our goal is to be consistent and bring out the remaining volumes at regular intervals, and just keep growing the fan base for the character.

‘Odayan’, brought out by Pop Culture Publishing and Level 10 Entertainment, is sold at level10comics.com .

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