Veenland

Veenland has antennas on every roof.

They all love watching television here.

Specially Bollywood movies...

And they aspire to live according to the logic of Bollywood films!

(Filmi 1. of or relating to the Indian film industry or Indian films 2. containing the high drama typical of Indian films Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers) Anyway, Tiger and Langur are best friends and our main characters. Both aspire to be heroes. Langur considers himself the brains of the pair, while Tiger doesn't think much at all.

Tiger has a mother who is saccharine sweet, like a proper Bollywood Maa, and a father who is grumpy, disappointed, and speaks in proverbs. He also has a sister who, believing bad things always happen to a hero's sister, constantly runs around the house—she needs the practice. Langur doesn't talk about his estranged family. However, they aren't the only ones; almost everyone here competes to be heroic. It's become impossible for HathiDadu, the grandfather elephant, to go out alone.

Someone is always eager to help, oblivious to the damage they might cause all around. ...They're convinced Grandpa has cataracts

Art Film Uncle, the tortoise, has barely managed to jog in the forest for years. Heroic ambushes by persistent do-gooders always stop him, ostensibly to prevent him "from dying," "from being lost," or "both"!

Animals of Veenland love to sing and dance, and they prefer to do so in front of moving screens displaying exotic locales... for no particular reason.

Hearing any music, some simply can't resist joining in, dropping everything in an instant.

Barbers, doctors...

...or even patients.

In Veenland, you can always tell what kind of movie someone has just watched.

...or which ones exactly.

When fighting, they must begin with humorous, quirky, and insulting one-liners. The funnier, the better, at least for the spectators.

Fruit vendors and potters, however, tend to enjoy it much less than others.

The sloth bear stays somewhat busy, providing music for the community.

Without music, how would anyone truly know if they've fallen in love? It just wouldn't feel the same. He has to be around... even for love at first sight!

(Sometimes, though, he slows down the tempo. It isn't clear whether this is deliberate or simply his mood. Maybe he just forgets the fundamental fact that a slow "love song" is essentially a "sad song.") Lonely and the only Panda of Veenland plays his harmonica for a different reason altogether.

He believes he must have been separated from his siblings, either at a village fair or because he was too slow to board a moving train.

Without any locket—or rather, half a locket—he roams far and wide, playing a tune he remembers his mother humming. One day, he returns with a band of brothers. Too many remembered the same tune! He decided to select only the black and white ones, even including a penguin on summer vacation.

This wild cat is known as the "Item Wild Cat" around here. She is expected to break into song and dance at some point.

She should have nothing to do with the story, but Tiger and she seem to like spending time together. He thinks she is a good friend. Langur disagrees; Tiger already has a friend: Langur. He thinks they should make a love triangle instead. He also knows he'd leave them alone later (everyone knows sacrifice makes a better hero).

I forgot to mention that there are also those in Veenland who aspire to be villains, like the Croc twins. Although they are still working on it, they haven't found their badass, forever-repeatable one-liner yet. They have hired an expensive tutor specifically to coach them on that. (Just realised that they don't really look like twins here... my bad drawings…)

Then there are the outlaws.

They live on a cliff but often raid the mainland.

(Please don't feel bad about the raccoon. Being a very skilled pickpocket, he understands why he needs to be caged. What others don't know is that he can come and go freely.) Tiger went to the cliff to retrieve a loot and was captured. (Apologies for the inconsistencies in style and character design. These were done in my free time, and there may be years between one panel and the next.)

"Your best friend is here!" Langur arrived to rescue him but was overpowered too. "Don't wait for me to die before you get all angry and powerful, you idiot! Use them—whatever they're called—those claws, now!" Langur screamed.

He knew Tiger could untie himself if he really wanted to, but it just doesn't work like that here. He simply isn't angry enough yet! So, these are some of the dynamics of Veenland. Mail me at sukantodebnath@yahoo.com if you want to know more... Not exactly a parody, this story is about a group of animals who try, or aspire, to live by the rules they've absorbed from their favourite movies. It explores the ensuing mess and chaos, revealing how the very rules that cause disaster can also lead to its resolution. Ultimately, they learn that heroism is not a solitary act, and collectively overcome these challenges by adhering to the same rules in their funny, silly, and charming ways. This story aims to appeal to different age groups and uses references from popular movies of the last few decades. There is a large population that watches Indian cinema, with increasing viewership even beyond India. I mean Indian cinema in general, not just Bollywood, even though I wrote Bollywood here. The target is to entertain those parents together with their children, who grew up watching animation. Which is a significantly large population now. Genre: action-adventure, buddy comedy, family (Most Indian movies are family movies—generally watched by everyone in a family together.) Thank you for making it till the end! :-) Visit my instagram page for more