Do you remember the famous Indian detective with a big white moustache and a red turban, whose mind works faster than a computer and who has a companion from the planet Jupiter? If yes, then you belong to the generation of people who have witnessed one of the foremost superheroes of real India. Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu seem to have been lost in time somewhere amidst the clout of various foreign superheroes such as Batman and Spiderman for long. But thankfully he is now evolving in a new form from print to animation and reaching out to the international audience as well.

Chacha Chaudhary's comic label Diamond Comics has tied up with License India, a company specialising in providing licensing solutions and helping increase awareness of various brands. The tie up will also help other character of Diamond Comics, such as Billoo and Pinki to break into merchandising.

It will take at least a year for the first animation film to roll out. "We will be maintaining the intrinsic qualities of every character in the comics but their look in the film will be highly renewed keeping up with the today's times. There is a huge number of Indians living abroad who grew up on these comics. The animation film will be a good opportunity to capture their attention," says Gulashan Rai, managing director, Diamond Comics.

When it's hard enough to come across children reading Chacha Chaudhary, Pinki or Billoo, how is Diamond Comics pinning its hopes on merchandising and animation? "I agree that over a period of time international superheroes have captured the attention of kids in metro cities more than Chacha Chaudhary. But many of you may not know that India is not made up of metro cities only. There is a whole chunk of young population staying in numerous small town and cities that still thrive on these comics. And I have figures to prove it. We sell 15 to 20 lakh copies of our comics every month all over India. It's a huge number," remarks Rai.Pinki in action