A popular Indian comic superhero who usually fights rapists and traffickers deploys her powers against a new enemy — COVID-19 — in the latest digital book and film released on Wednesday.
Priya, a rape survivor who flies around on a tigress, has since 2014 been spreading the message of gender equality by helping other women and girls get justice in the Priya’s Shakti (Priya’s Strength) comics.
In Priya’s Mask, India’s first female superhero befriends a little girl, Meena, to show her the sacrifices made by health workers, like her mother, and to spread compassion and battle COVID-19 myths, such as young people not being at risk.
“There was a lot of misinformation being disseminated, mostly on WhatsApp and social media, within India about the pandemic,” series creator Ram Devineni said.
“There was victim blaming, blaming poor people, blaming various nationalities for the virus... Priya challenges that disinformation,” he said.
The South Asian nation has the world’s second-highest number of COVID-19 infections, behind only the US, with about 9.5 million cases and more than 138,000 deaths, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University.
In Priya’s Mask, the superhero teams up with Jiya, star of Pakistan’s Burka Avenger cartoon, to help the villain when he catches COVID-19, underlining the “need for compassion and humanity in such times,” script writer Shubhra Prakash said.
The creators said they drew on their own isolation, fear and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic while developing the story.
Devineni’s elderly father, a pediatrician for nearly 50 years, had to shut his practice to shield himself and attend, via video, the funerals of two close friends who died from COVID-19.
Monika Samtani, one of the producers based in Washington, said she was constantly worried for her husband, a doctor, and her family, and that Priya’s “real superpowers” were to explore these feelings with honesty and courage.
“She’s a freaking badass. She’s female, she’s brown. And brown to me is really important because I live in the United States and that representation is also what drew me to this because it’s about time,” she said.
“It’s here now, and it’s here to stay,” she added.
Initial talks are underway about Priya’s next adventures, which the creators said could tackle everything from mental health and body image issues to climate change.
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