Twenty years after he was first created in a comic book, Pavitr Prabhakar makes his film debut.
By Zoya Mateen and Meryl SebastianAn Indian Spider-Man is making waves this summer as he swings onto screens in a dhoti , gold cuffs and an enviable mop of jet black hair, spouting cultural lessons for his guests from across the multiverse.
The superhero's films have been among the top-grossing Hollywood films in India since 2007, spawning numerous local knock-offs. This includes a love song, whose funny lyrics - "Spider-Man, tune churaya mere dil ka chain" - have earned a cult status in the country. Pavitr is among the five different spider stars - all from alternate realties but connected through their shared powers - who team up with teen hero Miles Morales to stop a wily supervillain.
"First Marvel gave us first black Spider-Man, Miles Morales and now we have Pavitr. The story is trying to touch on an exciting idea: that anyone can be Spider-Man," says Mrityunjoy Pal, an ardent comic fan. Instead of being smitten with Mary Jane, the girl-next-door, Pavitr has a crush on his classmate Meera Jain. And unlike Peter Parker, who is bullied in school for being a "bookworm", Pavitr is a scholarship student from a small village who is ridiculed for his appearance.
But back in 2004, reimagining an icon such as Spider-Man was a lot more challenging, especially for an Indian audience who, Mr Devarajan explains, had seen images of the character but did not know his story and had not read any comics about him.
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