If you like cartoons (and I am sure you do!) you cannot miss Manik and Ratan’s works. These twin brothers from Dhaka are amazing cartoonists, and also graphic artists and animators. They make cartoon characters as good as any that you find in international comic magazines. If you are an unnamed fan, you must have known their works by heart already. For a long time Manik and Ratan have been making cartoons for all the leading newspapers in Bangladesh.
A cartoonist’s career however is not a very highlighted one in Bangladesh. Potential cartoonists have to deal with many trials from family and society when choosing a career as a cartoonist. Making the choice was not easy for Manik and Ratan either. As their parents wanted them to become computer engineers, the brothers did pursue studies in this field. But when in their final computer class presentation their software project failed horribly whereas their animated cartoon became a hit, the brothers made up their minds about their career.
As they have put it, ‘We realised that we were not on the right track, we had to switch to something we were passionate about’. They managed to convince their parents and switched to the career they yearned for.
Today the twin brothers Manik and Ratan are among the top global digital artists. Their works have been featured in Forbes, the Huffington Post, and even the TED website. Recently the brothers gave a talk at the TEDx Dhaka in which they shared their stories of breaking barriers. They also showed their animated short film called, ‘Unsolved Stars’. This gained a huge applause from the audience and a standing ovation.
In the twin brothers’ word, ‘The response from the audience was beyond our expectation! When many from the audience told us that the animation brought them to tears– that touched us!’
The brilliant twin brothers Manik and Ratan are now investing all their time and talent in learning about cartoons, graphic design, and animations.
‘We were in Malaysia the last three years studying Animation at Limkokwing University’, they explain. ‘We majored in 2D animation, using very classic techniques. We also studied the complete film production process — script writing, pre-production and post production. Obviously, this would help us not only for animation, but also in other forms of film making.’
The brothers also believe in sharing their knowledge and skills, ‘We plan to share our knowledge of animation. We will work, especially on the principles of animation, as there are still gaps in this particular subject. For example, when it comes to animated cartoons in Bangladesh, so much more is left to be desired. The animations look lifeless. We will work towards making them look complete and full of life.’
Recently Manik and Ratan have made a series of cartoon characters that interact with real objects. It is another of their brilliant work which has gone viral in the social networks and websites. You could take a look at them here.
You could also follow Manik and Ratan’s work in Instagram where they post a new doodle almost every day.
In the short life of Manik and Ratan, the journey has been long and challenging. But they had faith and courage and fought their way gloriously. Today their works are successful, famous and demanded by many. As they define their key to success, ‘Everything was possible because of the courage we had, to choose our own path and pursue our own dream’.