Little red riding hood goes desi

Set in a picturesque village in West Bengal in the 1800s the story begins with a little girl who owns a beautiful red shawl Everywhere she goes the light red shawl remains wrapped around her neck And so the villagers call her Chotto Red Riding Hood One day Chotto insists that she visit her didu Bengali maternal grandmother who lives across the forest But her ma warns her to be wary of any strangers or creatures who try to distract her Yet Chottos attention wavers as the beauty of the woods captivates her What happens when she encounters a sly greedy fox Will she reach her didus home safelyA look at the illustrations from the book PIC COURTESYswarnavod ON INSTAGRAMRing a bell yet Chotto Red Riding Hood is Bengaluru artist Swarnavo Dattas reimagining of the classic fairy tale from the West that most of us grew up with While weve had many debates with fairy tale lovers about the original story being inappropriate for children Dattas desi take on it is certainly a breath of fresh air The 28yearold who originally hails from Kolkata has been immersed in art since he was four While the arts stayed with him for most of his life Datta who is a corporate trainer by day has been pursuing art professionally since 2017The idea of Chotto Red Riding Hood was accidental he shares Being interested in childrens book illustrations a couple of months ago when a Mumbaibased author contacted me with the idea of a collaboration I created a few demo panels While the project didnt take off I decided to no longer wait for another author to approach me and began work on a personal project He recreated an iconic fairy tale available in the public domain While the choices ranged from Alice in Wonderland to The Wizard of Oz he picked The Little Red Riding Hood for this debut work It was short and compact and reminded me of my childhood when I had a popup 3D book on the story In fact didus home in Dattas take was inspired by his own maternal grandmothers house he reveals about the connections that make their way into the modified fairy taleWhy the desi take we ask When I revisited the original version the story seemed different than how I remembered it It was gory violent and graphic which I felt wasnt meant for children I knew I wouldnt narrate it to my nieces and nephews Since it was in the public domain I had the freedom to twist the ending to suit my narrative In the process I thought why not set it in a recognisable context And thats how Chotto took shapeChotto translates to little in Bangla Several elements in the story will remind you of the beautiful landscapes countrysides and the natural beauty of West BengalCuriously Datta does not show the fox upfront Most horror films give a sense of the evil lurking in the dark to strike fear without a direct shot I wanted the children who come across the story to be curious and let their vivid imagination run wild They can make the fox as scary as they want to just by watching Chottos expressionsSwarnavo DattaThe response has been positive Bengali families have been reaching out to the artist A mother in the US wanted her sons to connect to their roots in Bengal with my book he sharesLog on to swarnavod on Instagram or visit swarnavodcomKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news