Funny Money

Sir Richard Branson, the mega-magnate of Virgin Airlines, Virgin Music & Entertainment, and Virgin Books is partnering with Deepak Chopra, Shekhar Kapur, and Gotham Chopra to create original comic books and character properties for a global audience in a new venture Virgin Comics.

“My partner Sharad Devarajan and I made a list of the ideal investors for this venture and Richard was right at the top,” says Gotham. “I used a little ingenuity to reach out to Richard and pitch our vision. He ‘got it’ immediately and understood what we were saying – that the future of entertainment resided in Asia.”

So is this creative outsourcing? “I hate the term outsourcing, so I wouldn’t probably call it that,” says Gotham Chopra. “I think relegating India to a backroom for a western company is a disservice especially in the creative field. India is a vibrant and dynamic source of content with an astounding creative and artistic heritage. I like to think we’re playing some small part in sparking that creative renaissance in India and showcasing its electricity to the world.”

Virgin Comics is launching five comics this summer, two written by Shekhar Kapur entitled Snake Woman and Devi, two by Gotham Chopracalled The Sadhu and Ramayan Reborn, and one by the senior Chopra entitled Deepak Chopra’s Kama Sutra.

“I am delighted that Virgin Comics will not only help to launch the Indian comic market and spin it into the west, but will develop new and exciting talent, giving a whole generation of young, creative thinkers a voice,” says Branson. Kapur also takes the funnies seriously: “The art of the 2-hour captive, non-interactive product called the ‘movie’ is history. Comic book characters -traditional and digital – are the new cult, the new religion.”