An Indian Spider-Man is swinging onto the screens in a Munde ( a sarong-like garment), gold cuffs, and an mop of jet black hair. He appears in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse which broke the box office records in India, as it grossed over £2.17m in its opening week-end alone. This emphasizes the popularity of Spider-Man in India – one of the characters from the West’s comic book universe to make an impact in a country where pop culture is largely dominated by Hindi film industry. Pavit Prabhakar, guards the streets of Mumbattan – a mashup of Manhattan and Mumbai. His plays Peter Parker, the teen behind the original Spider-Man mask.

Pavitr Prabhakar, Indian Spider-Man, a simple Indian boy from a remote village, moves to Mumbai with his aunt Maya and uncle Bhim to study after getting half a scholarship from The Heritage International School. The other kids in school mock him due to him coming from a village – a country bumkin wearing a Mund, so bullies often beat him up. Only Meera Jain, a popular girl from his school, befriends him. A mystical yogi give Pavitr the magical powers of spider.  While discovering his powers of a spider  refuses to help a woman being attacked by several men. He leaves the place, but comes back when he hears his uncle cry out, and discovers that he has been slain. He learns that Bhim was stabbed when he tried to help the woman. Pavitr uses to fight against an evil businessman and crime lord, Nalin Oberoi, who is after a magical amulet to perform an ancient ritual in which he is possessed by demon committed to opening a gate for other demons to invade Earth.  Oberoi destroys Pavitr’s village and kills everyone there.  Oberoi kidnaps Pavitr’s aunt, taking her to a refinery outside Mumbai and also kidnaps Meera and drops them on the top of the refinery. Spider-Man dives for his aunt, but fails to rescue Meera  who is saved by Doctor Octopus. Pavitr reveals his identity to Meera and asks her to take his aunt to safety.

Oberoi gets rid of Doctor Octopus for good and touches Spider-Man’s amulet. A Venom-like creature emerges from the amulet and tries to lure Spider-man to the dark side. Later Spider-Man defeats and hands him over to the police and sent to a mental institution.

The latest Spider-Man movie features Pavitr Prabhakar as the Indian Spider-Man (credit Sony Pictures)