Shikari Shambu is an Indian comic character created by Vasant Halbe and Luis Fernandes for the Tinkle magazine in 1983. Shikari Shambu is one of the characters of Tinkle. Shambu is a base and lethargic shikari whom the rest of the world regards as courageous. He always tries to run away from dangerous animals, but due to some stroke of luck always ends up as a hero. He lives with his spouse Shanti. In The Legend of Shikari Shambu, it was revealed that Shambu, before being called "Shikari" Shambu, fell on a tiger and thumped him out. It was after this episode that he got the name "Shikari" Shambu. He is shown wearing a wide pith helmet that thoroughly covers his face and green shorts and a shirt. He carries a massive rifle which he never accepts.
Origins
By 1988, Tinkle was already on its way to converting the most popular children’s magazine in India. Their biggest opponent at that time was another kids magazine named Target, run by Living Media. Unlike Tinkle, Target was more of a narrative magazine, with a few pages of comics. Their flagship personality that time was Detective Moochhwala by Ajit Ninan. Moochhwala who was a cop and detective with penetrating eyes and a huge soup-strainer. Tinkle decided to create a competing character. Subba Rao and Dhruva, two of the creators at Tinkle, came up with the proposal for such a character. They decided to base this new character on a boastful but cowardly big game hunter in the leading television drama, I Love Lucy. Luis Fernandes then worked on producing the first story, which was originally named "Shambu", before Shahid Hidayat prefixed Shikari to the name. Some of his editorial teammates had reservations over the use of the name Shikari, as the wildlife conservation theme was in its prominence. But, the sheer charisma of the name, they and the editor Anant Pai, decided to let it continue. But, contrary to the name, the creators ensured that Shambu never would shoot or kill any animal in any of its episodes. More than that, creators slowly even disassociated him from his trademark hunting gun, after a few episodes. The "non-intensity" policy of Tinkle also resulted in Shambu being portrayed as more of an scientist than a hunter. One of the reasons for the popularity of Shikari Shambu, was due to the comical illustrations of the artist, Vasant Halbe. Halbe, who was a freelancer at Tinkle that time, had impressed the editorial team with his earlier works. Once he was confirmed officially as the artist for the series, he showcased his character sketches, of which a drawing of Shikari with his Topi pulled down over his eyes, caught everyone’s attention. The sketch went on to be the among the flagship character of Tinkle. In 1997, Savio A. Mascarenhas replaced Halbe as the illustrator. Later, during the 434th issue of Tinkle, the childhood version of Shambu also known as Little Shambu appeared. It was a brainwave of Reena Ittyerah Puri, the former Associate Editor of Tinkle and now, Editor, Amar Chitra Katha. The characters of Little Shambu are- 1. Little Shambu- The childhood version of Shikari Shambu. 2. Little Shanti- The childhood version of Shanti, Shambu's Wife. 3. Little J.J.- The childhood version of Jeeva Jeevantak, old arch-rival of Shambu who wants to harass him. 4. Dum Dum- The pet of Little Shambu, who doesn't appear in the main comic series, Shikari Shambu. 5. Kittu- The pet of Little Shanti. She doesn't appear in Shikari Shambu comic series and always harassed by J.J. 6. Suhasini- She is Little Shambu's mother. Although, her name was not revealed but revealed in a story named Nibble Nibble, which is the 3rd Little Shambu story. 7. Shambu's Father- He is the father of Little Shambu and he always scolded him and even tried to leave him wherever the Shambu household went on such occasions. The reoccurring characters of Little Shambu are Manu Kaka, Panda Thieves, The teacher, The School Watchman, Prof. Y. Russ, Lakshmi, the Temple Elephant, Kondiah, etc.
