Stany Bela

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Dec 4: The best thing about cartoons and caricatures is that they are universally liked and laughed at. Everyone loves cartoons. They have the knack to make people smile and laugh more easily than almost any other kind of joke. They can even express something profound about the absurdities of modern life.

Out of the numerous cartoonists is one Ibrahim Badusha, fondly known as the ‘Cartoon man of Kerala’.

The 34-year-old cartoonist from Ernakulum is quite different from the cartoonists we see around. Badusha specializes in making cartoons with alphabets, numbers and shapes. That why he is also called the ‘Doodle Dude of India’. Badusha has covered six languages in India including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil Telugu, Kannada and Bengali. He has even created doodles or easy drawing in English and Arabic and is confident of expanding it further to other global languages.

Early life

Badusha’s talent for drawing was discovered by his grandma at an early age of four when he used to draw pictures of birds and fishes. His school principal Jayashree Shivdas encouraged him to pursue the art further. His parents also supported him which helped him land at an art school called ‘Pratibha’. He discovered his love for cartoons at the art school.

After completing KGTE course at ‘Pratibha’, Badusha pursued a course in animation at internationally reputed Toonz Media Group. He then worked a couple of years at Technopark and as an animation trainer at Animaster and few other institutions.

The real break came Badusha’s way when he joined a firm called 'Sai Feature Syndicate', a comic studio owned by Venu Variath. He worked for there for three years and learned the tips, trade comics and illustration. His special column ‘Easy Drawing’ was syndicated in different languages across the world. Soon, doodle was created by this technique.

TV shows, books, and cartoon school

‘Little World’, a television show which showcased his easy drawing techniques using alphabets made Badusha a household name in Kerala. Working with TV channels like Kochu TV, Goodness TV and others gave him the much needed push.

Badusha has been associated with major kids’ publications like Chuttivigadan, Malarvadi, and Manorama. His column in the weekly Labour India even made the government to include animation in the school syllabus.

‘Cartoon School’, an animated cartoon tutorial by Malayalam Manorama was conceptualised by Badusha. He has worked on 10 CDs for Leareware Solutions which teaches kids art and craft.

Around 70 books on ‘How to draw’ have been credited to Badusha who is set to complete 100 easy drawing books on various themes. Badusha’s illustration skills are featured in many school textbooks and story books. Recently, a set of 17 books on Konkani folk tales was released by World Konkani Center with Badusha’s illustrations conceptualised by Guru Baliga.

His silent cartoon called ‘Cartoon man’ is a rage among kids.

Achievements of Badusha

Badusha was the youngest member of Kerala Cartoon Academy at the age of 19. He was elected the vice chairman of the academy. Chairman Sukumar and Badusha have conducted many cartoon classes and exhibition that no one can even think of.

Badusha has travelled to the Middle East and many parts of the world with his stage show ‘Doodle for All’.

His 30-second caricature makes him a different artist. He is also a celebrity caricaturist who has done live drawing of Amir Khan, Rajamouli, Shabana Azmi, Mammootty, and Mohanlal to name a few.

He was the official caricaturist of football team Kerala Blasters, IFFK, Coir Kerala, Kerala Strikers celebrity team and many others.

He has attempted a marathon caricature attempt of drawing 750 caricatures in 12 hours at KMEA College.

One-minute movies on YouTube on different awareness subjects made him to write a script and direct a movie called ‘Maduhuram’ which dealt with diabetics.

Hundred years of Indian cinema, 100 eminent women, No smoking cartoon exhibition, and ‘Say no to drugs’ cartoon awareness exhibition are few of the major exhibitions conducted by Badusha.

He has also organised ‘Peace Legends’ caricature exhibition by Hassan Kottaparbil, and exhibition of 128 caricatures of Nehru by different artists all over the world.

Badusha is going global by collaborations with major publishers in the West and is also working on cartoon encyclopaedia.

Ardent lover of Konkani

Badusha, popular for spot caricature, has illustrated 17 bilingual (English and Konkani) Konkani folk stories which were released by Konkani Language and Cultural Foundation here on November 19 during the inaugural day of the two-day Vishwa Konkani Literary Festival.

He has also worked for Kundya Kurkool, a Konkani folktale in the comic format that was released recently. Badusha is also working on 20 more stories that will be out shortly.

Associated with the foundation from two years, Badusha says that it was a challenge for him was to understand Konkani culture that largely revolves on the food they prepare. It took some time for him to understand the culture of the Konkani community.

Badusha, showing his concern towards the society, has started ‘Lines of Care’, a charity based caricature show with caricaturist friends to raise funds for needy. The charity group has done more than 10 charity caricature shows.