Soothran (Malayalam: സൂത്രൻ) is the titular protagonist of the Indian comic series that appears regularly in the comic magazine Balarama. The comics are conceptualized by Luis Fernandes (the editor of Tinkle) and NM Mohan, written by Madhavan Namboothiri and illustrated currently by Simi Muhamma.
The story revolves around a smart, tricky and clever jackal named Soothran who lives in a cave in the jungle. His best friend, Sheru, is a dumb and cowardly tiger. The strips depict the adventures of the two friends, and is noted for its funny twist endings. Most of the characters are anthropomorphic, walk on their hind legs and use a common language for communication.
The comic strip, launched in mid-2001, was a huge success. Unlike other comics in Malayalam, it became widely popular among Kerala youth and soon became a flagship strip of the magazine. More than 500 weekly strips of Soothran have been published so far, each one about 4 or 5 pages in length. The language presented in the series is not pure Malayalam of the literature. Dialogues used by most of the characters is seen bent to unofficial conversation style of the laymen.
Creators
"Soothran" was created by Luis Fernandes, the editor of the Tinkle magazine, and NM Mohan for Balarama in 2001. Simi Muhamma, an artist from Muhamma in Alleppey, currently draws the comics and Madhavan Namboothiri prepares the script. With Soothran's meteoric rise to fame, several other magazines have started similar strips with Simi Muhamma, the artist behind Soothran.
Characters
Soothran is an Indian jackal, living alone in his cave in the jungle. The Malayalam word "soothran" roughly translates as "the clever one" or "the one who knows tricks". He appears to be young and energetic and very smart. He is experienced to survive danger situations with ease. He often devises very complicated traps to capture prey animals, most of which rebound on him. Also, he often undertakes tasks with gusto, only to later realize they were not as easy as he had originally imagined. Most of his family relations live in other nearby jungles, visiting him from time to time.
Sheru: The word "sheru" comes from the Hindi word "sher", which refers to any of the big cats. Sheru is easily recognized by his black stripes and innocent eyes. He keeps utmost respect to Soothran and his tricks. He is the prime reason for the backfiring of Soothran's many ideas. Sheru is always filled with great optimism, and though always well-meaning, he can also be mischievous, and his actions have sometimes led to chaos and trouble for himself and his friends. Sometimes he and Soothran quarrel and separate, only to become friends again after some hours. His unfit body posture suggests and truly proves his in-born laziness. He is neither cunning nor intelligent, and he is self-realized of this to some extent. To overcome this crisis, Sheru often behave as an intelligent tiger before Soothran ending up in total failure.
Kadiyan: A lion living with his cub in a cave in the jungle. His character is rough and aggressive and is ill-tempered. He often orders Soothran and Sheru to do tough tasks (such as looking after his cub) but ends up beating up Soothran for failing in completing the task.
Moonga Vydyar: He is an owl and is the main physician in the forest. Soothran often meets him for medicines after getting beaten up by Kadiyan. He is extremely serious and acquaintances with anyone. He has medicines and solutions for all kinds of illness.
Kari Nakkan: He is a bat and his name derives from the Malayalam word for black hairy tongue. In India, people with black hairy tongue is said to have the unique quality/power of bringing anything they want on a person/thing. This quality of Karinaakkan makes him notorious in the jungle. Although unintentionally he brings on whatever he says on the animals and especially bad luck on Soothran.
Ajagajan: In Malayalam 'ajam' means goat and 'gajam' means elephant. This goat's name is a combination of both the words, probably meant to showcase his quality to produce alliteration in every sentence he speaks. He is described as a devotee of the Hindu god Shiva. He is one of the very few among the animals to appear with any accessory (he wears Hindu prayer beads around his neck, and has sandalwood paste marked on his forehead).
Karadi Chettan is the artist of the jungle, although quite peaceful and calm, there have been occasions where he beats up Soothran for messing up his works. More than being a painter he can make sculptors too.
Karinjunni: Literally means "the one who is black as coal". Karinjunni is a little cat, he often cries and sulks, and does not care who he is dealing with.
Trivia
Soothran comics have also been published as special summer month collections, starting in 2003.
Akku and Ikku is a spin-off story from the Soothran universe currently appearing in Balarama magazine.
Soothran and Sheru appear in a series of crossover comics known as All the Best.
