Aunty No. 1

After acquiring a highly welcoming and communicative Indian fan following,beating the number of fans in the US,the heads at Backland Studios have decided to come out with an Indian version of their snappy character. A preview of the series of the Indian version of Aunty Acid is out on their Facebook page. While she retains the pink cotton candy hairdo,she is styled in a neatly draped sari and accessorised with golden bangles. “Since India is so diverse,we’ll keep the character ethnically standardised. The responsibility for styling her was down to the Backland Studio’s illustrator Dave Iddon,at our Indian co-ordinator Ravikumar Venkatachalam’s request. We wanted to be respectful of Indian culture,” says Raychel.

The creators often involve their fans in the development of the character by asking them what they want,so the Indian version of Aunty Acid has and will be inspired by ideas that fans here want illustrated. Yet,the creators feel that there is not much cultural gap between India and the UK. “Aunty Acid has captured the hearts of people all over the globe,from the Big Apple to Mumbai. Her witty words have connected people of all ages,nationalities,religions and races. It’s a bit of a ‘Sass revolution’ really,with people simply feeling Aunty Acid says the things they wish they could,” says Raychel,who is keen on developing other versions of Aunty Acid for different countries.

Like the original character,the Indian Aunty Acid is feisty yet approachable,with imperfections and faults that everyone can relate to at some level. “My grandmother’s favourite saying was,‘If you don’t laugh you’ll cry’,which is something we stick to religiously at the studio,” she adds.