Manik and Ratan - The terrific twins

Being twins is in itself rare, but to then go on and achieve success together for amazing artistic prowess is remarkable. This is the case with cartoonists and twin brothers Humaun Kabir Manik and Kamruzzaman Ratan. In addition to being cartoon artists, the duo, who work under the name Manik N Ratan, are illustrators, animators and workshop facilitators. The twins grew up with a fascination towards drawing cartoons, filling up pages of their notebooks with doodles whenever they had the chance. When they were in high school, they sent in their drawings to Unmad, as they were huge fans of the popular cartoon magazine. Soon after, Manik and Ratan started drawing for Unmad and several noteworthy newspapers of the country professionally. It was quite an achievement for the twins to be able to do what they love from such a young age. “At the beginning, our family was skeptical, but eventually we received encouragement and support from our parents in regards to our passion,” asserts Manik. In terms of formal training, Manik and Ratan studied graphic design and animation at Shanto-Marium University of Creative Technology and 2D animation from Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Malaysia.

The most significant achievement in the twins' thriving career came when their animated short film, Unsolved Stars, won the best of the Fabulous Four at AdFest 2013, one of the most recognised regional creative festivals in Asia. Unsolved Stars is a heart-touching story about the friendship between a father and son. This was the first ever award won by any Bangladeshis at the event.

Drogo, the character created by the twins.

Manik and Ratan are also the first Bangladeshi artists to have a special sticker pack of their cartoon character, Drogo, on Facebook. According to Manik, Drogo is a blend between a pet dragon and a pet dinosaur. The brothers were inspired to create Drogo because they loved the film How to Train Your Dragon, where the characters have their own unique pet dragons. “We always dreamt of having our own character just like those of Walt Disney's. So, it makes us really happy when we see people around the world love Drogo,” says Manik. The character Drogo interacts with everyday objects – it drinks coffee, plays football and even sleeps in the hands of a friend. Surfers can express their feelings using the Drogo stickers in Facebook messages, comments, and posts.

 Starting from story idea generation to script writing and from storyboard to animation, the brothers are involved with every stage of whatever project they take up. When asked what is it like working with a twin brother, Ratan says, “Just as how some people can complete each other's sentences, we can complete each other's drawings! We also give each other immediate feedback. It is good to have someone to share the highs and lows with.”

As they have been drawing for a living for a while now, Manik and Ratan feel that the career prospects for cartoonists, illustrators and animators are immense. Manik says, “Finding work is not limited by borders right now, thanks to the internet. The passion and hard work of cartoon artists do get recognised.”