Gautam Benegal was a cartoonist for Westside Plus, a popular supplement for Times of India. Around the year 2006, a bird flu scare went viral and people stopped the consumption of chicken due to which the poultry business got affected.
There was a rumour that the then Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss smuggled in a tandoori chicken leg into the Lok Sabha and started eating it to prove that it was completely safe.
Benegal drew a cartoon of a chicken shop where one of the chicken boasts to another one showing the headlines, “Hey guys check this out, my second cousin, twice removed made it to Lok Sabha!” which was published on Facebook in 2009 and got huge response. This started Benegal off on the ‘A1 Chiken Sope’ cartoon series.
Benegal was unsure if he would be able to sustain an ongoing cartoon series on such a limited canvas, with just a cage, a few chickens, a light bulb, a signboard and a lugubrious looking owner called Salim Bhai. But, the ideas kept emerging with the change in India’s political landscape and these few props continued to create art that was much appreciated. Though his cartoons became darker and more scathing, Benegal was surprised to witness such a huge positive feedback from the Indian audience for black humour, raised as we are on a diet of inoffensive gentle cartoons.
Benegal does not publish the ‘A-1 Chiken Sope’ series in any mainstream media, because they are practically underground, and of course, according to him, this is a niche audience in India, the kind that would guffaw over Mad Magazine, Punch, or Spittin’ Image.
A lot of things which are taken in an offensive manner if spoken out in words are swiftly conveyed through these cartoons. And oh yes, over the years the ‘Chikens’ have acquired names – from the ones on Benegal’s friend list.
- With inputs from Gautam Benegal’s backstory on A1 Chiken Sope cartoons.
“We need your permission to prosecute you. Sign here.”It was a very absurd situation when, in 2017, the UP government decided to refuse sanction to prosecute Yogi Aditynanath for allegedly inciting communal violence in Gorakhpur in 2007. How could the Chief Minister, who also happens to be the Home Minister accept or reject state police’s request to prosecute him? It is like an accused sitting on the judge’s chair.
Gautam Benegal
