Meet Musalman, a superhero who follows the Sharia law. He wears a white skull-cape and saffron underpants over a green costume with a crescent moon and five-rayed star emblazoned on his chest. When a woman is catcalled, he lands up on the scene and gouges the eve-teasers' eyes out, but when thanked for being a saviour, he shrugs, "If you had worn a burkha, I wouldn't have had to," and flies off.
<img title="Falah Faisal" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/nov/Falah-Faisal.jpg" alt="Falah Faisal" /> Falah Faisal
If you're laughing instead of reacting, 'wait, how could he even say that!', you're among the 70 per cent, who read Falah Faisal's comic strip, Musalman vs Romeo Squad, posted on Facebook a week ago, and understood the satirical humour that drips from it. "It reflects the times we live in. I'd say 70 per cent is a good success rate. I like that it creates slight confusion," says the Bengaluru-based writer-filmmaker, whose past stints include directing videos for The Viral Fever. A journalism, political science and sociology graduate, Faisal has also been performing as a stand-up comedian for seven years.
<img title="Illustrations by Rahul Chacko and Siddharth Bhandari" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/nov/Musalman-a.jpg" alt="Illustrations by Rahul Chacko and Siddharth Bhandari" /> Illustrations by Rahul Chacko and Siddharth Bhandari
Power panel Though he launched it two months back, Faisal had been toying with the idea of the comic for over two years. "Having grown up in a Muslim family in the post-9/11 world, I've seen my family get more conservative because they feel victimised. So, I wanted to give them a hero they agree with. The idea was to take a subject that's considered taboo and present it with a different perspective," says the 25-year-old, who grew up on a healthy dose of comics, including Kick-Ass, and considers the no-holds-barred TV series South Park as his inspiration.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2017/nov/Musalman-b.jpg" alt="" />
However, it was American Splendor, a biographical film on comic book writer Harvey Pekar, that pushed Faisal to look for artists to give shape to the comic. So far, he has collaborated with Siddharth Bhandari and Rahul Chacko, and posted Musalman's introductory panel along with three comic strips. The latest, posted this week, is Musalman vs Bank Robbers, where the superhero stops a bank robbery and punishes the robbers by chopping their hands off. However, he ditches the saw and rushes off for namaz, when he hears the azaan. "The idea is to keep the stories action-oriented and tell them in six panels or less. I plan to collaborate with more artists to gauge how they interpret him."
Humour matters Faisal adds that using the satirical tone was a conscious decision. "India has a strong tradition of satire, especially in non-English literature, with Hindi writers such as Harishankar Parsai parodying the government and mythology back in the '60s. Art and politics go hand-in-hand. Also, satire only works when there's oppression. In the last three years, I've actually felt like a minority because of the restrictions put on eating habits, and who you should marry. So, my goal is to push the boundaries and encourage others to speak out too," says Faisal.
He has also dealt with themes like consent in the comic. For instance, in the Romeo Squad panels, characters played by the Khan troika are caricatured as the catcallers. "A lot of eve-teasing occurs due to Bollywood films that show how a girl, who says no, is pursued until she falls in love."
The response so far The writer shares that he has largely received positive feedback, from as far as Sweden, Italy and Spain. Is he apprehensive about a backlash? "I am used to it. A couple of years ago, when the meat ban was enforced for religious reasons, I had started an online petition to ban vegetables on Bakri Eid and received death threats too. My stand-up set also talks about such subjects. I say my goal in life is to have a fatwa on my name before turning 30. That way I'd be a success," he laughs.
For the next few months, Faisal will focus on posting single comic strips, twice a month. He is also working on the character's origin story, which could be turned into a full-fledged comic book. He adds, "Watching Musalman show up in an X-Men or Spider-Man movie would be a dream come true."
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Look! There's a new superhero in town; read on to learn more about him

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