CS Chellappa’s Vaadivaasal: The Arena, considered one of the best works in Tamil literature, has an unusually balanced protagonist. Not the typical hero one would expect, Pichi has harboured a thirst for revenge for two years against the bull Kaari, who gored his father to death during jallikattu, the traditional bull-taming sport. Pichi is determined to tame the bull that took his father’s life, an act that requires immense patience as opposed to the seething rage in him, and the novel follows his arrival at the vaadivaasal (arena) and the fight sequences between him and the bulls.
International Booker Prize-nominated author Perumal Murugan and critically acclaimed graphic novelist Appupen have now adapted this historical story into a graphic novel, collaborating for the first time. The graphic novel is entirely in black and white, symbolic of the ominous atmosphere that pervades the book. It has been adapted into four languages so far—Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, and English. With minimal dialogues and detailed illustrations of bullfighting scenes, capturing the minute expressions on the faces of characters, Appupen and Perumal Murugan have worked together to visually convey the tension that lies within the sport and demonstrated the lionisation of the participant who manages to humble the majestic bull. It is, in the end, a question about whose pride wins: the bull’s or the man’s. A novel about the past published in the present as a graphic novel, this complex but unique and supremely interesting project will now reach a much wider audience.
On February 16, Perumal Murugan and Appupen gave a talk about Vaadivasal: The Arena, the graphic novel, in a panel moderated by Subodh Sankar, founder of Atta Galatta Cafe and Bookstore, at Bangalore International Centre (BIC). Afterwards, I spoke to Appupen about his process of writing the book with Perumal Murugan, the significance of the book today, the practice of jallikattu, and the characters and specific aspects of the book. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Briefly, could you explain how Vaadivaasal, the graphic novel, came together?
I met Kannan [Sundaram, director of Kalachavedu Publications], who holds the rights to most of Perumal’s works in Tamil, at the Festival du Livre in Paris. Kannan asked me if I would like to work with Perumal and him. They had been looking to adapt Vaadivaasal into a graphic novel for a while. Then they saw my work, and we had a nice rapport. The choice to convert Vaadivaasal into a graphic novel was Kannan’s, and it was a great choice.
Kannan told me that the book had been a perennial hit. Even though it was written in the 1950s, it still sells a good number of copies every year. We are in the process of experimenting with graphic novels in Tamil, as graphic content has generally faced challenges in regional languages. The question was how we can break into the regional markets with a graphic novel or comic.
How is jallikattu now different from jallikattu in the 1950s?
I’ve visited jallikattu sites for the book. It is very different from earlier because of the many new rules that have come in. For example, now there are barricades, people wear uniforms, and there are sponsors. In the past, there was no barricading, and the bulls would charge into the crowd [of spectators]. So many people used to get injured. That was not really fair to the crowd. But now there is no pathway for the bulls to reach the crowd. There are also differences in the technical rules. For example, earlier, they would put anklets and other ornaments on the bull so that jallikattu participants couldn’t catch them. But that no longer happens. Jallikattu is even bigger now, both in terms of the crowd size and the number of bulls involved.
As someone who worked closely with CS Chellappa, in what ways did Perumal Murugan provide you with information about jallikattu and the vaadivaasal as portrayed in Chellappa’s book?
Perumal has witnessed jallikattu across the decades. He told me that he used to watch jallikattu in his younger days, and he has written the foreword for many editions of the original Vaadivaasal.
He also selected correct sections from the original book to be highlighted in the graphic novel, ensuring the right parts were conveyed. I added a section at the beginning, with some drawings of nature, to establish the setting. This was to make sure that readers, no matter where they are from, do not feel lost. Perumal broke down the action step-by-step after that, which was really important. That is why the book is good—you can follow the action, and it makes sense. You can understand every move they make, and see how they manoeuvre the bull.
Have you ever felt like participating in jallikattu?
No, not at all! I have no such fantasies. It requires a lot of practice, and we cannot undermine the sport. In 70 per cent of the photos with bulls [at jallikattu], there is somebody in the air, upside down, somewhere. Nothing happens to them—they turn around, fall, get up, and fight again. It is all very animated! When you are watching it, you do not realise it. It’s all one action. But when you see the photos, you understand it.
In the book, there is a scene where the bull leaps into the crowd. It’s an action you might not be able to imagine a bull doing—it almost seems wrong. My editor pointed that out and asked if I could do something about it. But I had a reference picture exactly like that, and I copied it precisely, because it is a position I cannot imagine. I can’t picture a bull jumping from the front unless it is jumping on to me.
Is there anything that specifically inspired you to make this graphic novel in today’s context, especially considering it is such an old novel?
I think the graphic novel will bring a story that is not urban into the urban scene. Enough people have read the book in Tamil and Malayalam, and there have been many translations, but this graphic adaptation will bring the novel to a younger audience it has not reached before. I find this particularly interesting because so many Indian stories like this haven’t got through to the young crowd.
The book is very detailed in the graphic illustrations, and the character of the old man is the most expressive of all. Who would you say is the most important part of the book? Who propels the story forward?
I would say the most important character in the story is the bull, but it is the old man who propels the story forward. That is his role in the book. I sought to portray him such that he expresses a lot, and he has to be funny. He gives you the information about jallikattu, and cements the story. He does the job of a sidekick, like you see in films. It is the job of the sidekick to make the hero look like a hero, which the old man does with Pichi. Even before Pichi brings up his father, Ambuli, the old man talks about Ambuli in a way that makes him appear very impressive, which elevates Pichi in our eyes. So the old man creates the space for the hero, Pichi, to shine.
What would you say is the significance of the character Maruthan?
I enjoyed creating Maruthan’s character. However cool you make him, Pichi becomes cooler. It’s because Maruthan is a supporting character, and he is working with Pichi. They are brothers-in-law, they have been to many jallikattus together, and they signal each other in the vaadivaasal about what move to take next. So Pichi has a good, strong friend, which is a quality we appreciate in our heroes. If a hero has a good, strong friend, it indicates he is probably a good character. Maruthan is ready to die for Pichi.
Maruthan’s appearance was very important to me. I based his look on two Tamil faces I could connect to in my head—a bit like Kamal Haasan and Prabhu when they were younger, when Kamal Hassan would be the hero and Prabhu would be the solid sidekick. As the hero, Pichi’s look was easier than Maruthan’s, because the hero is supposed to look a certain way. Maruthan does not have to look totally like a hero. But he has to emote, and his smile, and the way he looks at Pichi, should give the feeling that he is the guy who can do it.
Action and movement, of course, I can depict nicely. But what I was looking to do here was showing the communication between characters through their expressions. In one scene, Pichi is just looking at the landlord while he is standing in the crowd. For those kinds of scenes, I think I got the expressions right. The landlord is not really looking at Pichi, but he has his eye on the landlord. I think I managed that subtlety with the expressions.
Pichi’s character is very complex. He harbours a rage in him but has to stay calm and collected in order to avenge his father. In one scene, when he is talking to the zamindar, he is very polite, but there is clearly some tension between them.
Yes, he is playing it nice because there is no other option for him. He does not want to tell the landlord directly that he wants to catch his bull, the Kaari. The tension is probably what tells the landlord that Pichi has already decided to catch his bull. The landlord has a dialogue in the book: “I can see in his eyes that he has come to catch the Kaari.” And we all know how this “good behaviour” works—everyone acts polite, but in their minds, they mean something else.
Pichi is definitely a hero for the characters in the book. But is he a hero for you and for readers?
I don’t know if he is the hero that people should aspire to, but he does have qualities that everyone would find admirable—he has got the courage, the moves, the skills, and he is not jumpy. He is watching, studying the scene, observing, and is skillful in the way he interacts with the landlord and the old man. But he has come with a weight on his shoulders. I do not particularly subscribe to the idea that he has to avenge his father, but I think that was a crowd-pleasing element, or something to drive the story forward. It is not something I would include in my own stories.
But I like Pichi. I would like to hang out with him and Maruthan, though Maruthan will only like me if Pichi likes me. Even at the end, Pichi remains composed, and has a certain gravity of character.
The little boy in the book only appears for a short duration, but his presence is impactful. He is the only one who could control the untameable Kaari.
Yes, there is a specific scene at the end that I put in with this little boy, which is not exactly there in the original novel. I wanted to show that the boy had a connection with the bull, so at the end, when the bull is dead and everyone is turning away from it to go back, the boy is the only one still looking at it.
The beginning and the end are where I can bring in something as a creator. At the start, I show the scenery and people slowly coming in, and at the end, we know that the crowd is going towards the riverbank where the bull has gone mad. But then it is up to us to imagine the bull going crazy, and how it shows its power. I had fun with the ending.
This was your second collaborative project, and unlike your other works such as Moonward, Aspyrus, The Snake And The Lotus, The Dream Machine, which were completely your own, this was someone else’s work that you converted into a graphic novel. So how was the experience of making this novel different from the experience of writing your other novels?
I want to tell my own story, and I am very particular about that. Even Dream Machine was fully my story. Laurent [Daudet] gave me the technical input, but creating that big corporation was my agenda. I have to make you aware of politics and surveillance. So I basically got a free ride in that, to give all my cautionary stories about AI. I wanted the cautionary stories to seem valid, to seem relevant.
This novel is more geared towards south Indian stories. I had asked Kannan earlier for stories that connect Malayalam and Tamil. I have a future project whereI aim to focus on this area. Besides, I have always been a fan of Perumal, and I would have worked on anything he asked me to. If he is writing, and I can do a book with him, I am always up for it. When we are telling stories, we are always trying to find our own nuance in telling the story. A storyteller should know what to highlight and what to downplay, and carry the reader throughout. Perumal is an experienced storyteller, and he knows how to control the readers. I wanted to know if I am good enough to do that, or if I could add my own touch and he would approve of it.
Are there plans to publish this novel internationally? Are there plans for future projects with Perumal Murugan, or any adaptation like this one?
Of course, that [international publication] is what I am looking for. [Internationally], it will be like, “How can you imagine something like this?” It will be like a fantasy to them.
There are plans for an adaptation with Perumal, which we will begin working on in June or July.