Subramaniyapuram: The Tamil Film in English Translation

 On January 17th, we'll be releasing Subramaniyapuram: The Tamil Film in English Translation.

 

If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should: it's amazing. A tale of friendship, betrayal, love and revenge set in Madurai in the early 1980s, the film pioneered a new, gritty aesthetic in Tamil cinema that has caught the attention of film lovers around the world. Made on a tiny budget by a first-time director and a cast of newcomers, Subramaniyapuram was a smash hit with audiences all over South India, from the big cities to the villages. 

It's also been cited as a major influence by some of India’s most respected filmmakers, including Anurag Kashyap, who dedicated his 2012 epic Gangs of Wasseypur to "The Madurai Triumvirate": Subramaniyapuram director/screenwriter/star M. Sasikumar and his mentors, directors Ameer Sultan and Bala.

 
The book contains an English translation of the screenplay (by Kausalya Hart and Constantine Nakassis) plus a wealth of additional material curated by Anand Pandian, a film scholar at Johns Hopkins University. There are essays by Baradwaj Rangan, Constantine Nakassis, Preminda Jacob, and Anand himself on the film's cinematic context and social impact; a full-colour gallery of film stills, never-before-seen working shots, and publicity posters; and an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Sasikumar.

The launch is scheduled for 3:30 pm on Friday, January 17, at the Chennai Book Fair. Both Sasikumar and book editor Anand Pandian will speak and be available for signings. We encourage you to grow a beard, if you're able, and come in period costume -- though your aruvaal and bottle of naattu sarakku will probably not be allowed inside.

Things We Found During the Autopsy

Guess what yougaiz!!11!!1!!

We're super thrilled to announce that Kuzhali Manickavel's new short story collection will be released in early February.

Here's the cover (by Prabha Mallya):

There are 52 short, short-short, & short-short-short stories inside. Some of them have appeared online, some of them in phoren journals, but many are brand-new-never-seen-before. The stories cover a wide variety of topics; a few of them are enumerated on the back cover.

Prepare to have your bones sawed through and your intestines cut open with an enterotome*. Good times are on their way.

*Enterotome: the scissor-like implement pictured at the top of the front cover. Used to cut through intestines of dead people. We just learned this word and it is fun to say.

Book Launch at the Fish Market

From what we hear, most people are getting a little tired of the typical book launch event -- the one where you go to a swanky hotel or cafe or art gallery, sit politely for a couple of hours watching two people in chairs exchange moderately witty banter, and then drink some tea.

So, just to switch things up a little, on Saturday, January 4th, 2014, at 11 A.M., we'll be launching The Obliterary Journal, Vol. 2: Non-Veg at Nochikuppam Fish Market, which is right next to the Marina Beach Lighthouse in Chennai.  We'll be setting up next to the stall of the lovely and gracious Ms. Kadamma Ilavarasi, who has a starring role in "Nochikuppam Fisherwomen Comics", a photocomic interview by Ratzzz and X. Kumar that's included in the book.

Here's Ilavarasi looking fearsome, standing in a blood-coloured ocean:

Rrrraaawwwwrrrrr.

Exciting one-time-only offer: With each purchase of a Blaft book at the event, you get a coupon for Rs. 100 off on seafood from partipating stalls! There will also be free coffee, tea, and elaneer. You can get your book signed by Ilavarasi and her co-star Kala (pictured below), as well as several other artists who have contributed to the journal.

Look forward to meeting you all at Nochikuppam on the morning of January 4th.

Coming Soon: The Obliterary Journal, Vol. 2

We are excited to announce that in the first week of January, close on the heels of our release of Stupid Guy Goes Back to India, Blaft will be bringing out The Obliterary Journal Vol. 2: Non-Veg. This book is a collection of short comics and artworks having as their common theme the consumption of animal flesh by members of the human species.

 

The Obliterary Journal Vol. 2 features talking chicken legs, giant man-eating serpents, plenty of aliens, a few mind-blowing statistics, and some excellent kebabs. It includes contributions from Meena Kandasamy & Samita Chatterjee, Appupen, Durrrrk Mixer Grinder Serial No. 30277XM03, PETA India, Aneesh K. R. & The Coromandel Avian Taxonomy Research Institute, Kynpham Sing Nongkynrih & Aratrika Choudhary, Nicolas C. Grey & James Farley, Prabha Mallya, and many more. It's by turns fun, bloody, defiant, thought-provoking, and extremely strange.

The ferociously talented Prabha Mallya (known for her work with Manta Ray Comics, as well as for her illustrations for Nilanjana Roy's The Wildings) has also designed the cover for the book. In fact she has designed three different covers, all of them featuring an endearingly feisty lady we here in the Blaft office have taken to calling "Meat-Face Aunty". Since we couldn't decide on which version of Meat-Face Aunty we liked best, we will be publishing the book in three short runs with different covers, so you can choose your favorite.

We don't have a firm date for the book launch yet, but the event will most likely be in the first weekend of January, at Nochikuppam Fish Market, near Marina Beach. Details to follow shortly!

Coming Soon: Stupid Guy Goes BACK to India

Blaft has been in hibernation for a while. We haven't had a book out in over a year, and haven't posted here in almost that long either. I'm not even sure if people still read blogs anymore. We should probably move over to Tumblr or something, that seems to be where all the cool people hang out.

In the meantime, though, we're excited to announce the imminent release of Stupid Guy Goes BACK to India by Yukichi Yamamatsu.

It's the sequel to his first autobiographical manga, which was published in Japanese in 2008, and which we published here in India in an English translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian as Stupid Guy Goes to India in 2011.

In the new book, Yukichi returns to India, more determined than ever to succeed in his crackpot business schemes. He recounts his adventures trying to run an udon noodle cart business in a Delhi slum, while performing Hindi standup comedy routines in public parks on the side. He also follows some drug dealers around, travels to Purvanchal, and muses on Indian bathroom habits.

Included as a bonus at the end is an English translation of Yukichi's wonderful 24-page original Hindi fiction manga, Cycle Rickshaw-wale ki Dukaan.

Unfortunately, we can't bring Yukichi down to India again, but the first copies of the book will be available at the Westland/Tranquebar stall at the Mumbai Film & Comic Convention, Dec. 20-21, and it will be available in stores soon afterward. You can also pre-order a copy from our website.