Wednesday, November 4, 2009

# Manohar Kahaniyan & Satyakatha

Mitra Publication of Allahabad was a pioneer name in Indian publication history,there was a time when bunch of the most popular magazines use to come from Allahabad press.Magazines/novels as the likes of 'Jasoosi Duniya,Manohar Kahaniyan,Maaya and Manorma' etc were the glorious names of the Mitra Prakashan.

In this post we will discuss about Manohar Kahaniyan and Satyakatha in particular,there was a time mainly after post independence era when reading culture was at its peak in India, specifically around 60's after cinema,reading was the only affordable entertainment for the middle class mass.
At that time many publications came into picture publishing various kind of magazines,novels suiting to the different-different kind of taste of society.There has been a strange kind of fascination of human being toward crime,the crime news arises a strange kind of mix feelings of fear and sympathy toward this dastardly act,one can either hate or find interest in such news but can't ignore them and because of this sole reason crime based magazines,novels and now TV programs such as 'Sansani,S.P.Arjun' etc are hugely poplular.

Manohar Kahaniyan was launched in 1957 to capture the market using this human phsycology where crime stories titilliate the nerve of common man.Soon 'Manohar Kahaniyan' became the largest selling Hindi magazine of India pouring out lakhs of copies per month,encouraged by its bumper success Mitra Prakashan in 1974 launched another crime story magazine Satyakatha and it was also given a warm welcome by Indian mass.Both these magazine rode on success horse till late 80's and early 90's,but after the advent of TV,Video and internet Mitra Prakashan also suffered setback as other publications did and gradually all these big names 'Maaya,Manorma,
Manohar Kahaniyan and Satyakatha' lost in sand of time.
Today Mitra Prakashan is a shadow of its hay days and somehow struggling for its existence.Its magazine which was last to shut was 'Manorma' and to boost up its sales the publication started a crossword quiz in it.Winners were assured of handsome prizes and i also use to take part in those quizzes and also won it once,encouraged by this win i again participated and luckily was declared 1st or 2nd prize winner in one of those quiz very shortly,but month passed and the prize was not sent.I waited and waited,wrote several letters to the publication but no result. One or two years after i got a chance to visit Allahabad and encashing that opportunity visited Mutthhiganj(Mitra Prakashan office) in Allahabad and demanded explanation for the delay in prize delivery from the related persons.They pretended to look into the matter but from the lower staff i came to know that from months the staff has not been paid with their salary.
The picture was clear,publication was in huge loss,because of it they were unable to pay staff salary then how can they clear the pending quizzes prizes!! With heavy heart i returned and a year later 'Manorma' also closed down thus pulling curtains to the glorious Mitra Prakashan. They are still active but as a hazy shadow of their prime.
'Manohar Kahaniyan' was the most popular and selling publication of Mitra Prakshan,it use to publish basically the crime and fiction stories written by their reporters and fiction writers supported by beautiful illustrations and cartoons.








note the quality of illustrations associated with stories..







As it was the largest selling Hindi magazine hence use to get a lot of ads too,few attractive ads from Manohar Kahaniyan are here for you.
Do you remember this Raj Babbar's Red & White ad......"Hum Red & White peene waalon ki baat hi kuch aur hai"





















More Vintage ads.....








































ummm....'Gagan hi khaao,gagan hi khilaao.....




Remember this Lipton Tiger Tea ad....how this big moustache man sit on his jeep's bonut and sips Lipton tea facing the tiger.




Those were the times when novel culture was also on its peak and likes of Ved Prakash Sharma,Surendra Mohan Pathak were hugely popular among the pulp readers.Publishers of their novels use to give a full page ad of their forthcoming novels in this high profile magazine MK.























I remember turning the pages of Manohar Kahaniyan only for the brilliant cartoon feature by 'Ranjit'.His cartoon were so compact,funny and humurous,i wonder what happened to him as i didn't saw his work in any other magazine other than MK and Satyakatha,if anybody have some information on him please share.

































































Satyakatha was the another co-Publication of MK and was on the same pattern,only difference was its small size.I use to read in it the comic feature of Inspector Vikram by Aabid Surti.






















(pls bear with the poor image quality as these images are taken from mobile cam)

During my recent comic/magazine hunt i find quite a lot of Satyakatha,Manohar Kahaniyan along with many other vintage comics too.I was surprised to find a Bharat Kumar comic published under 'Trishul Comics',this is something new to find as far as i know Bharat Kumar full comics were published by Goverson Publication under the heading of Madhumuskan comics only.




Have a look at this comic also.....



This Rajan-Iqbal comic i read in my childhood,was glad to find it again,many memories associated with it reeled down.



Please share your thoughts about this post.Much more to come about mini bal pocket books and comics,Col.Ranjit and vintage Indian magazines/comics in coming posts.

52 comments:

मोहम्मद कासिम said...

hi again very good post

manohar kahniya aur satya kahtha mein bhut sansanikhej vakiye chapte the.

aaj bhii aise bhut si magzines publish ho rahi hai.

lekin unme sex utejak photoes ke alava kuch nahi hai.

satya katha aaj bhi aa rahi hai.

sim786.blogspot.com

Comic World said...

Mohd.Qasim: Yes,theek kaha aapne,aaj ki magazines me sivaye vulgarity ke kuch nahi hai.Aaj jo Satyakatha aa rahi hai wo Mitra Prakashan ki nahi hai,balki kisi dusre prakashan ki hai,unhone Mitra Prakashan se brand name 'Satyakatha' khareed liya tha.

मोहम्मद कासिम said...

yes zaheer bahi

satya katha , manohar kahaniya ajkal diamond comics publication nikaal raha hai.

purane ads dekhakar achha laga

lipton tea hamara yahan bhut bikti thee 1 rs. packet.

Silly Boy said...

A very good post. Keep it up buddy. You deserve a thousand applause for your efforts.
A very big post deserves a very big comment. So here I am. (Hi Hi Hi)
My father did not allow me to read MK, SK and pulp fiction and so I did not read them. So I am sorry to say no memories are associated with these publications. Till very recently due to my bais against MK I did not even touch this magazine. I was under the impression that this magazine carries only cheap obsence literature. During one of my comic/magazine hunt I came across a large collection of MK at a throwaway price(just Rs. 2 per copy) and despite the vendor's insistance I did not buy the same due to the above reasons exaplined by me. Then somewhere on net I read that SK used to carry comic strips. I tried to find old SK for those strips but could not find any SK carrying comic strips although I found some old MKs & SKs and to my pleasant surprize I found that along-with crime stories they also used to published some quality thrill/crime/historical stories and their illustrations and cartoons are of very good quality but I could not muster the courage to buy those MKs and SKs.(Though I am 31 now but still I cannot do anything disapproved by my father. Though it is not so out of fear but because my great respect for him.) Anyway come back to the topic.
Though I used to read Manorma. Till today I was not aware of the fact that MK and Manorma are by same publishers. Now I am able to understand the reason of similarity of page type and quality of stories in both the magazines. Manorma also used to publish some very good foriegn stories (mostly of Urdu from Pakistan and gulf countries and generally translated by Mr Surjit. Do you remember Surjit?). My father used to read Maya but I never read it. Manorma was bought for womenfolk of the house but usually I was the first to read it much to the annoyance of my mother and sister as they could not understand why I wanted to read a magazine considered to be a woman magazine. Apart from stories I also read Manorma for some other features. Can you guess about those features?
I have two early novels of Col. Ranjit published in Hind Pocket Books. His stories also used to be published in Diwana. I have not read them till yet. Will wait for your write-up on him and then decided to read or not to read those novels.
The R&W Ad of Raj Babar reminds me another R&W of Jackie Shroff. That ad used to be shown on cinemas before the beginning of the film. "Milte Hai Sache Log To Milta Hai Sacha Anand?" Do you remember that Ad. Though never a smoker myself I enjoy these kinds of ads. ( Incidently, I never drink liquor but I also enjoy songs/shayari relating to drinking. Life in itself is intoxination!). That Lipton ad was also used to be shown before beginning of a film in the cinemas.Those vintage ads arise many memories. In that gagan ad there is an actor. Is he Agha?
I think I have seen some cartoons of Ranjit in some other magazine(s) as well. May be in Manorma? I am not sure about it.
In that comic ad in SK Vikram is shown in police uniform though I think Vikram was a secret agent. Is he the same Vikram whose comics also published in Sun Comics. I think writer is Jagdish Uppal of later Bahadur era. Correct me if I am wrong. They also used to carry Inspector Garud/Eagle comics by the same team.
Trishul Comics was a short-lived venture by the publication house of Madhu Muskan. Some Bharat Kumar and Babloo Comics were published under that banner.
Tell me the publisher of that Corrigon comic. In the latest comic hunt it seems you have picked up some foreign comics as well. Tarzen/Turtle/Corrigon!
It would be nice if you share with us the name of the city where you had gone for your recent comic hunt and if possible with me anecdotes.
In the last who is the artist of cover of Heere Ka Chirag comic. Is it by Kadam Studios?
Thanks for bearing with me for such a long time.

Comic World said...

SB: First of all there is no question of being bored by any length of comments or rather to say more lengthy the comment is,better it is.
Well,i too was not allowed to read MK/SK because of its content also i myself was not keen to read these textual stories as at those times i was more interested in cartoons and pictures,so use to flip the pages of SK/MK and go through the cartoons of Ranjit whenever i use to visit at my uncle home as he was a avid reader of MK/SK.I was more inclined towards SK because of its comic feature of Ins.Vikram.
Later on i tried my hand on MK/SK but use to read the tiger/lion hunting stories and other fictional stories only.I was also a reader of Manorma and was fond of its stories translated by Surjit,yes,i remember Surjit and his translation.I also use to read Manorma's 'personal problem' section and i think you were also talking of same section.
If talking about novels i was more inclined towards VPS,Gulshan Nanda and Manoj though occasionally use to read Col.Ranjit also,but i never liked Col.Ranjit much,i find him so-so in most of his novels and very good in very few novels.
Currently i use to take his novels only due to their cover and publication(Hind Pocket Books),normally cover design and format of Hindi Pocket books was very different,attractive and sleek than other pocket books,and because of this sole reason nowadays i collect all Hind pocket books novels which i can.
My comic/magazine hunt was started primarily for Indrajal comics and previously i use to search only IJCs but now i take any of vintage comic/magazine which i could find within reasonable rates.
Yes,i remember that Jackie R&W ad also,it was a joy to watch all those ads again which one have gone through in childhood.
Yes,that actor in Gagan ad is Aagha,how can one forget him.Can you tell who are other two artists in this Raj Babbar R&W ad(right side one).
I too have read Ranjit cartoons in Manorma too,but not in non-Mitra Prakshan magazines.If anyone has more information on him pls share.
Arun,these comic features Insp.Vikram,Azad,Garud,Eagle were the brain child of Aabid Surti initially but later on been written by other writers as the brand name(Here character) was the sole property of publisher and Surti was paid of writing stories for the publication,only exception is Insp.Azad,which is still under copyright of Aabid Surti.
Arun,that Corrigon comics seems very interesting because of its illustration quality,i am still to go through it,by the way it was published by New World Publication,Bombay and it's a 1973 issue with a printed price of Rs.1 and 75 paisa only.
That 'Heere Ka Chirag' which was posted at CW is the 2nd reprint edition of the original print which was bearing cover designed by C.M.Vitankar,i think its not by Kadam studio.
I have gone through various interesting experiences during my comic hunts,will be sharing them in forthcoming posts.

Colonel Worobu said...

CW, that Corrigan story looks nice. Do you plan to scan it?

Colonel Worobu said...

Virus X was illustrated by the legendary artist Al Williamson, during the golden age of the corrigan series. I read this story in the early 70's and it is about a bike gang stealing a top secret virus and holding it for ransom. Very nice story. This was also published by Muthu Comics in Tamil.

Silly Boy. said...

Well brother I was talking about comic features (Shrimatiji & Channi Chachi), Joke Page and above all a satire/humour article by well-known Hindi writer K.P.S. Sexena which used to be published in the initial days. Ranjit's caricature used to appear in the joke page as well. Manorma used to carry two/three full pages of jokes. In those days Shrimatiji & Channi Chachi were not used to be published by comic format and it was a joy to read full page Shrimatiji of A-4 page. Later on I also started to read that 'Personal Problem' section. Do you have some old Manorma as well? Can you post one or two those translated stories or those hunting stories from MK. I am also a die hard phan of those stories.Sometimes I wonder how our interests are so similar!
Are the artists in R&W page are Birbal & Sharat Sexna?

kk said...

Nice post. Kya Aap sportstar/sportworld etc nahin padte the?
Watching Sachin play as good as old times yesterday - wah kya baat hain. :)

Inspector Garud was still running a couple of years ago - I remember seeing the script in a Kannada daily. Inspector Garud was assembled with some Secret Agent, name I forget but the artist is the same as the one who drew Dara in Indrajal. Dara and Aditya were pretty interesting, now I am really regretting why Times of India closed Indrajal. :)

Deb said...

Nice post, friend! The Lipton Tiger ad brought back old memories. Thanks for sharing.

Comic World said...

Col.Worobu: My all comics are meant for sharing purpose only.Well,after your feedback i read this comic today only and find it very impressive,its story plot and illustrations all are of high quality,the apprehension,which i was having previously for Corrigon has been removed and now i think i can enjoy his IJCs too which i had never read yet.

Comic World said...

SB: Yeah,Shrimatiji and Channi Chachi were really good and overall Manorma was a very good family magazine in general and for women in special.
In fact Mitra Prakashan's all publications were of worth reading,its a pity to see the conditions of these one time publications stalwarts due to changing time.
I think i may be having a few copies of Manorma as well,will have to search out them at home.Don't worry will be posting some selected stories from MK for you and others who are interested in them.
Correctly recognized,those artists are indeed Birbal and Sharat Saxena,congrats.

Comic World said...

KK: Yes,i use to read Sporstar but prefer more to read 'Cricket Samrat',the Hindi cricket magazine from Deewan Publications('Nanhe Samrat' fame).I am still having the special issues of Cricket Samarat on world cup of 1987,1992,1996,1999 and 2003.

Comic World said...

Deb: Welcome Deb.

Colonel Worobu said...

CW, the IJC corrigan stories are mostly of the post-Al williamson/Archie Goodwin era, drawn by George Evans. The art by Evans is nowhere near the high quality of Al Williamson's art and the storylines are mediocre at best. If you need to read corrigan, stick to the Williamson stories like Virus X, as they are really good.

मुनीश ( munish ) said...

wow ! another salvo from CW. Major chunk of today's news channels is only an electronic extension of these crime magazines run by the ex-readers of this stuff so Manohar Kahaniyan and the sisters have not died . They have just shifted to T.V.

Comic World said...

Col.worobu: Hmm..thats why,earlier when i tried my hands at corrigon IJCs,i didn't liked them at all.Will be looking for Al Williamson's corrigon in future.

Comic World said...

Munish: Yeah,nowadays TV channels are encashing the basic human tendency of being affected by crime news by airing such programs.

Anonymous said...

I know this is a 100% random post, but since you too like reliving woh kagaz ki kashti, woh baarish ka paani, did you know both Ludo and Snakes and Ladders, although internationally popular children's games, originated in India?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludo_(board_game)

:)

Unknown said...

Hi Comics World, I'm very much enthralled to come across your wonderful blog!! Many many thanks for providing this vital information to us!! I've been a die-hard fan of Manohar Kahaniyan and Satya Katha, and had a huge collection of them but unfortunately during a relocation I lost all of my magazines, which was a real big loss to me.... Now I'm trying to recollect as many issues of Manohar Kahaniyan and Satya Katha, and whenever I find any issue with somebody, I readily ask them if they can provide me a scanned copy of the issue, or at least allow me to come to their city with my laptop and scanner, so that I can scan them over there itself. You can gauge my fanaticism for these magazines from the fact that I'm ready to travel to any part of the nation if I come to know somebody has got a vintage collection!! So, I would like to request you if it could be possible for me to have a scanned version of the gems you've got?? I am even ready to make a payment if you can agree upon that, just let me know please.

Would love to hear from you, my e-mail id is coolfreelancewriter@gmail.com, please let me know your e-mail address by dropping a single line, so that I can at least come in touch with you.

Thank you so much!!

Arvind Arora

Comic World said...

Anon: Thanks for this encouraging information.

Comic World said...

Arvind: Arvind welcome to Comic World.This post was meant for peoples specially like you.Your dedication and fascination towards MK/SK is praiseworthy and encouraging.
During preparation of this post i was wondering whether it will be appreciated at a comic blog like this,but after your response i am satisfied that this post reached its destination.
Few days back i happen to find few old copies of SK/MK and i took almost all of them leaving a few.If you say then i will be taking the remaining copies for you.
Details i will be mailing you.

Amit Pachauri (अमित पचौरी) said...

Good post.
Great to see some old covers like "Rajan Iqbal" and "Bharat Kumar"

Rafiq Raja said...

I learned a lot about Manhor Kahaniyan through you post, CW. Excuse me for my delay in commenting, and long absence, and you know for what reasons :)

Oooh... la... a Rare Corrigan issue....

Please please share it as quickly as possible, Zaheer Bhai.

I support Colonel's remark on the standards of Corrigan stories, which depended a lot on who was behind the creativity at the time of publishing.

Corrigan is still so much cherished, in Tamil Comics, whenever Muthu decides to print them. There is even one title planned now to be released in the new year, where corrigan is going toe-to-toe with his arch nemesis Dr.7.

ÇómícólógÝ

Comic World said...

Amit Pachauri: Welcome Amit.

Comic World said...

Rafiq Raja: Your absence was quite justified.Well,the breaking news of your marriage were also briefed at 'Sholay Post' at CW also,hope you have gone through that post also.
I was not having any special liking towards Indrajal Corrigon because of its story quality and illustrations but when i happen to find this corrigon issue i sensed quickly that its something different and it also proved so.
Quality of illustrations plays a great role in overall charm of a comic in which this corrigon issue excels.
Will be trying to post it as soon as i can.

Pt. D.K. Sharma "Vatsa" said...

@Comic World

आपसे एक जानकारी की अपेक्षा रख कर के मैं ये टिप्पणी कर रहा हूँ....वास्तव में मैं पिछले कुछ दिनों से पत्रिका से संबंधित एक जानकारी की तलाश में हूँ,किन्तु बहुत तलाश करने पर भी मुझे वो कहीं उपलब्ध नहीं हो पा रही है । आपका पत्रिका संकलन देखकर मुझे लगा कि शायद ये जानकारी मुझे आपसे मिल सकती है...
यदि आपको पता हो तो कृ्प्या ये बताईये कि "धर्मयुग पत्रिका" का प्रथमाँक कब प्रकाशित हुआ था तथा नवभारत टाइम्स समाचार पत्र की शुरूआत किस वर्ष हुई थी....
यदि आपको पता हो तो कृ्प्या शीघ्र जानकारी प्रदान करने क कृ्पा करें।
अग्रिम धन्यवाद्!

Comic World said...

Pandit D.K.Sharma "Vatsa": शर्मा जी,कॉमिक वर्ल्ड पर आपका हार्दिक स्वागत है.'धर्मयुग' सम्बंधित वांछित जानकारी आपको उपलब्ध कराने के प्रयास जारी है,ज्ञात होते ही अविलम्ब सूचित करूँगा.कृपया दर्शन देते रहिये.

Vineet said...

Brother..Will it be possible for you to share the Rajan Iqbal Comic. It was among the first which I had read and looking at that page has brought about an avalanche of memories for me. Thanks

Comic World said...

Vineet: It was also one of those comic which i read in my childhood,hence many sweet memories are associated with it.Will be posting it for sure.

asifpathan said...

muze mere bachpan ke din yaad aa gaye kya app log inspector Nawaj khan ki kahaniya scan karke de sak te ho

Comic World said...

Asif Pathan: Welcome Asif bhai,well,i will try to scan those stories whenever i can.

Anonymous said...

hi frineds i find any one old book of manohar kahaniya

Comic World said...

Anon: Welcome to CW.I didn't got you,pl make clear what you have intended.

pallav43 said...

do you have the edition of manohar kahaniyan of april 1980

Comic World said...

Pallav43: I am not sure about it.

Rohit said...

सबसे पहले इस रोचक पोस्ट के लिए आपका बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद. मुझे याद है की बचपन में मैं कैसे मैं छुप-छुप कर सत्यकथा पढ़ा करता था. सत्यकथा में छपी कहानिया जो की सत्य अपराधिक घटनाओ पर आधारित होती थी और कुछ काल्पनिक भी होती थी, बचपन में मुझे बहुत आकर्षित करती थी. वे कहानिया मेरे लिए किसी डरावनी कहानी से कम नहीं होती थी. सत्यकथा बच्चो के पढने के लिए बिलकुल उपयुक्त नहीं मानी जाती थी परन्तु फिर भी मैं घर वालो से छुपा कर पढ़ा करता था....एक दिन मेरे पिताजी ने मुझे सत्यकथा पढ़ते हुए देखा और मुझे बहुत डांट पड़ी.
आप के इस पोस्ट के द्वारा मेरे बचपन की यादें ताज़ा हो गयी. एक बार फिर आपका ह्रदय से धन्यवाद.

Comic World said...

Rohit: कॉमिक वर्ल्ड पर आपका स्वागत है रोहित जी |

gaur said...

can any one suggest any LINK to read stories of manohar kahaniya online...i am missing for a long..

Comic World said...

Imran Ji unfortunately Mitra prakashan of Allahabad from where these magazines were use to published has closed down long ago.

Neha said...

Wow, I used to read Manohar Kahaniyan at my neigbor auntys place, whenever my mom left me at their place while going out. They were quiet mature for a child like me. But the stories were really intriguing. Loved your post.

Zaheer said...

Thanks Neha for liking and commenting the post.

Neha said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Neha said...

Hey. I wanted to check if I can use the magazine cover of Manohar Kahaniyan in my blog http://storywala.blogspot.in/

I will definately indicate your site as the source. Thanks awaiting your confirmation.

Zaheer said...

Yeah,Neha you can use gladly.

AroonKalandy said...

hello

Yes I am also Interested in the Tarzan,Apornas Son comics Published by Vidyarthi Mithram. Got some and eagerly looking for some more. seems Majority has not even heard about It.these are collection of Sunday Strips by John Celardo

Anonymous said...

Thanks again for you make fresh my old memories.

Neeraj ratnakar said...

क्या कहीं से भी पुरानी मनोहर कहानियाँ की प्रतियाँ मिल सकतीं हैं मेरा संकलन पूरा हो जाएगा ऐक भी चलेगी

Shahid Iqbal said...

Bhai aapke paas koi purani Manohar Kahaniyan ya satya Katha hain kya. Mere paas 150 thi par destroyed all by mistake.
Kuchh ho to batayen please.

Unknown said...

sir mere pas upalabdh hai kuch
aap face book par @unlimitedebooks91 par humse sampark kr skte hai

Unknown said...

Mayapuri 4 rs mein aati thi. Rajan iqbal, lambu motu, chacha bhatija, tauji, mama bhanja, fauladi singh, phantom, mandrake, etc, kya time tha

Unknown said...

In comics ka to anmol zakhira tha

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