Every Individual perceives and constructs things in his perspective and the desire for expression is a natural part of human culture. An artist projects what he gains through knowledge and experience to build a connection with the beholder. In this process of understanding the painters navigate through inner/outer spaces of experiences to the actualization of the material forms and structure. At first glance of a spectator, while looking into K.K. Gandhi’s painting is a kind of refreshing experience. As his paintings are immersed with the natural landscape, colourful forms, figures, open spaces which provide a sort of soothing to the mind and soul. And invites journey to the spectacular landscape of artists Homeland, which is always gravitating attention of all lovers of arts and beauty.
K K Gandhi
Mr. Gandhi has completed more than 15 years in the field of art. And he always keeps interaction live with contemporary painters to enhance his understanding of visual language. The realistic style of painting according to the artist is the language of common people and can easily connect. As people are accustomed to looking at physical reality as a powerful tool in imbibing aesthetic pleasure.
Visual narration that painter love to work and express is landscape, the structure of Himalayan mountains, nomadic peoples and past monuments / history of Dogra culture. Working on these subjects Mr. Gandhi feels much connected to his roots. Himalayan series works are rich in intensity, saturated tones, dark hues and bold strokes express artists’ passionate search for meaning into the subject and object conversation into a visual format.
Essence of my soil, acrylic on canvas
One of the paintings of the artist titled “Journey Within” wherein Buddhist Monk is shown walking amid mountains without any attention to materialistic thoughts. His focus is on the vast cosmos painted in Violet, grayish tones. The magnificent aura of the space has captured the soul of the saint as if inviting the soul to merge back into his source. The nothingness, the source of all that is seen and articulated in sense-perception and beyond.
- Rakesh Kumar
Visual Artist
About KK Gandhi
K K Gandhi(Freelance Artist) was born in Jammu. KK Gandhi is an avid artist with 19 solo shows and more than 200 group shows in India and abroad and around 120 National and International Art Camps / Symposiums.
KK Gandhi endeavours with mother nature, heritage culture, Nomadic life and messages of peace and salvation of Lord Buddha. He further mentioned the awards, felicitations and certificates of appreciation which he has received earlier from the various art institutions including the Battle Honor Turtuk Medal from Ladakh Scouts Regt. India Army, Award of Excellence 2020-21 by AM Hyundai, 3rd Delhi International Film Festival, Award of Excellence by Bharat Nirman, Shimla Administration & Jaipur International Art Festival.
Nippon Gallery presents, A show representing 3 prolific and creative artists displaying their experiences and affiliations of life. We appreciate Aishwarya Arvind Parab, Spandan Nath and Anjali Nair for Exhibiting such distinctive artworks that have deep impressions and feelings behind them. Visual Letters from 3A- studio configures the encounters of existence, experiences of life and peculiar vision about the world around. With the paramount skills and artistic aptitude, the artworks are displayed with remarkable ease, sublime colours and delightful forms.
Let's take a glimpse at the inspirational journey of these artists.
Aishwarya Parab
I am Aishwarya Parab, a fine artist and an art educator working in a reputed school in Mumbai. I remember the days when I was around 5-6 years old, my father used to gift me various types of books and stationary. Colouring books, drawing books and even story books to read. I used to try and draw the birds and animals from those colouring books on random sheets. But to be very honest, I wasn't too much into art in my school days. Never participated in any drawing competitions nor was I really encouraged to do art. I always drew the iconic two mountains & scenic river landscapes in my art exams. I was an avid reader back then.
My journey towards art started when I decided to leave my ongoing course of B.Sc. to pursue my career in arts. I graduated in Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from one of the finest art school in Mumbai, Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine arts & Crafts.
Before getting in the art school I never really thought about doing it as a profession. Slowly and steadily my interest in this field grew as I was evolving in every aspects of my life; developing my foundation skills, making new friends and enjoying every bit of the phase. The journey wasn't easy but my goals and focus was very clear. I was becoming more passionate and focused by the time. I realised that art is where I belong to. I was discovering a whole new world of art; from volunteering for art events, participating in art exhibitions, working on wall painting projects and public art installations as a collective, to working with an NGO for 6 months. It's been a wonderful experience!
The clarity in my thoughts and my dedication towards art saved my path to securing the excellence awards and the gold medal in the final year of BFA. In that same year two of my artworks got selected for 41st Monsoon Show which held at the prestigious Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai. It will remain as one of the most overwhelming and a dream come true moment for me.
Making figurative compositions is my favorite kind of genre, where I experiment with the form. From making bold patches of colors to capturing delicate forms in surroundings through the lines, my artworks explore and experiment with the concept of one's relationship with the surroundings as well as with self; dealing with the idea of responses that are created within, while observing the world around. As a keen observer and an introvert, I feel that every response and every experience cannot be fitted into the mould of verbal format. That is where the 'form' takes place.
The series of artworks which will be displayed at Nippon Art Gallery from 17th to 23rd of Dec 2021 deal with the idea of the fluctuations of conscious subconscious mind and the responses within.
Mind, not an organ as such..it may not be defined as one form, still can take up various forms. Mind is something which is quite vulnerable yet so powerful on it's own. The things around us keep on affecting our mind.. positively/negatively and sometimes they end up creating the neutral responses. While talking about the external forces that influence our mind. These artworks talk about the numerous other things happening within us that often create the turbulence.
The form that I have used here to depict the mind is a Balloon, in a metaphorical way. Balloon.. flexible, transparent and something that has the ability to hold up to certain amount. The experiments goes on from making bold patches of colours to capturing the different abstract forms from the surroundings.
As Picasso said, ' To search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing', my compositions are the narrations of small yet significant responses.
Spandan Nath
I am an Artist, Writer and Filmmaker. I write it in this order because this is the exact order in which I acquired the skills. As a single child, I would be less interested in games and playing and more into observing the world around. My father had a transferable job, and I would have the opportunity to observe, more than just one terrain or culture. These observations soon translated in sketches and at a very young age, Visual Art took over as my only interest. However, as I grew up and the pressures of education took over, I realised I had less and less time to make visual art. It is then that I realised that poetry and other kinds of writing was just another medium for expressing the same expression that I did through Visual Art. Interestingly, writing started giving me the same pleasure that I felt through Visual Art and that led me to finally graduating as Masters in Literature with Honours at the University of Mumbai.
But that did not mean I lost my interest for visual art, rather it expanded my interest in Art itself. As a Masters student I wrote an M.Phil level thesis on Comic book art and Visual art as a form of language. But after this I felt that, I had to explore more in how I can widen my understanding of Art. I was in a dilemma weather to go for a Ph.D for exploring that or something entirely new. Experimenting with a few occupations, I decided to pursue a Diploma in Film Making. Popular Culture had always interested me, and Filmmaking opened up new arenas for me. It made me realise how each frame of a film is carefully constructed and executed. How script is broken down and storyboarding made all the difference in shooting a scene. After being an assistant in a few short films, I realised that the only thing in which I didn't have a formal education was my first love itself, i.e. Visual Art. To pursue this I went to Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh and did a short course in Thangka Paintings. Further, after returning I took up a certificate course in Print-Making at Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts. It is there that I met my fellow artists in this exhibition - Aishwarya Parab and Anjali Nair. Somehow our styles and concepts seemed to click instantly and ever since we have been working as a group. The aggregate knowledge that I acquired by being a student of these several fields is what makes me the artist I am today. My concepts and understanding of Art itself has evolved with my journey. I have since exhibited at several group and commercial exhibitions. However, I am much obliged to Nippon Gallery to showcase our concepts and art as a 3 Artist Group, as it is one of the first exhibition where the focus will be only on our artworks, instead of a large body of artworks from a plethora of artists.
I often say that Art is my Qi as well as my Ikigai ...ie. in simple terms Art is my life-force as well as what I was born to do. But more importantly it's my form of self-expression, which has never stayed bound by one medium. Be it visual art, writing or even Filmmaking - they all represent self-expression and art for me. Art is not a single kind of work but it is rather multi-faceted or multi-dimensional. In fact, the series I present before you talks about the same concept of multi-faceted Life itself. If we are looking at a single person, he or she is playing several roles in their life - like a son, a father, a student, a teacher, an artist, a writer ... and you never know how many more. But the multi-facetedness doesn't end here. If we look at a larger scale, to the organisms living on earth, it's the entire world and it's huge. On the other hand if we look at the entire cosmos, Earth is probably even smaller than a speck of dust in the relative context. Then there are multiple dimensions, which if spoken in the context of quantum physics widens our existence even further, but in the context of spirituality it's an overlap of multiple existences and experiences in the same space. The discussion can go on forever. My series, called The Mangekyō Series that will be displayed talks of an overlap of this multi-facetedness. Mangekyo is the Japanese word for Kaleidoscope. Why Kaleidoscope, though? Kaleidoscope is the overlap of reflections from multiple mirrors, and to me multiple dimensions can be best representated through this wonderful device man has created for entertaining but is awe inducing.
The works themselves are hybrids of traditional art like sketch, digital art like enhancing in them with softwares and then experimental processes like cutting the prints and further enhancing them with relief placement and multimedia work on them. This again expresses the multi-facetedness and multi dimensionalness of the concept that is at the core of this series.
Anjali Nair
I am Anjali Nair, mother of two wonderful kids, a fine art artist and an art educator. I have done my graduation in English Literature (Hons) from Delhi University, and have worked professionally in the garment industry both as a Merchandiser and an entrepreneur for some years. Art for me had mostly been a hobby which I indulged in often. It is after my kids were born and while pursuing my Post Graduation studies in Early childhood education, I saw the positive impact art activities can have on children and adult alike, it is then, I started thinking of pursuing Art seriously. Hence, around 18years down the line, I did my Bachelor of Fine Arts (Painting) from Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts. In my ongoing learning process, I have participated in various art workshops in collaboration with different artists (including Aishwarya Parab and Spandan Nath) while participating in various wall painting projects in and outside Mumbai. My selected works have been displayed in Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay Art Society and other exhibitions, including public art installation for the Bandra fest along with my artist friends. I have been an art educator for over 13 years. I have also conducted number of art workshops for kids and adults alike, including for an NGO, under Save the Children Foundation, India training over 100 Balwadi teachers so as to propagate learning through Art. My repertoire of experiences and a quest and love for experimenting and learning helps me indulge in unique experiences of working with different mediums like painting, printmaking, sculpture and installation art.
My experiences have also been greatly influenced by my father being in the Armed Forces...and being exposed to varying cultures. It is in this very vibrant environment with many social interactions sometimes loud and sometimes silent I have grown up…each person coming across to me as a unique personality ..sometimes the characters extending to inanimate objects as well.. ..however connected to each other, with a sense of belonging…is it not that many strive to achieve?
Often these interactions make me genuinely interested in the working of the human mind and how working on our subconscious level, we can reflect on our thinking with a better understanding at a conscious level…. for we are the thoughts that we give power and attention to. As an artist, my work explores and at times reminiscences… the dynamics and complexity of relationship with oneself, others, nature and surroundings….it is these interactions and our ways of thinking that we perceive things on an individual level.
On another level, we, human beings are probably one of the only species that ‘can talk about entire kinds of entities that they have never seen, touched or smelled.’ (Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind...Yuval Noah Harari). Hence, making stories comes more easily to us, and it is on such accounts that we try to connect with others… with ideas which may also be abstract. It is in those abstractions that I try to find meanings through my thought processes, while indulging in expressive purposes. These thoughts coincide with my views and beliefs, that I try to communicate through visuals…In this paticular series, I have made use of hands as expressions with a mind and character in itself…Sometimes the hands speaks what words may not be able to convey…
Though I usually work in various mediums, in these works being exhibited with Nippon Gallery, I have mainly used watercolour and colour pencils in layers to create a rich and textured effect…
Nippon Gallery gladly welcome you all to the virtual exhibition, wishing the artists all the admiration.
Give us a virtual visit. See you.
Visual Letter from 3A - Studio
by
Artist: Aishwarya Parab l Spandan Nath l Anjali Nair
Note: All images is copyright and if you download or copy from website Nippon IT team will take legal notice.Artworks will be couriered in roll format.
Sandhu feels that art is an exercise in observation whether one is painting a landscape, drawing a political cartoon or making a film
By Sukant Deepak
Ikroop Sandhu
April 22, 2021 (IANSlife) “It’s important for me as a person to comment on social and political issues. Social media is a powerful tool to project my opinions into the world. It is also a great place to find alternate points of view and to engage with people outside of our echo chambers. My tool is drawing, so that is what I use to express myself,” says artist Ikroop Sandhu, whose illustration, re-imagining painter Amrita Shergill’s famous ‘Three Girls’ to mark Woman's Day during the ongoing farmers' agitation went viral.
This BA (Philosophy) graduate from LSR in New Delhi, who later did a course in animation from Vancouver has been following the farmers' protest ever since BKU(Ugrahan) set up a morcha.
“Initially I was an observer, but as things progressed, a friend of mine - Sangeet Toor set up a women led publication called ‘Karti-Dhatri’. She asked if I could make an illustration for their first issue. That got the wheels of my mind turning. I had been thinking about the contrasting images of women farmers astride tractors from this protest versus their docile depiction in paintings, films and literature. In fact, women farmers are largely invisible and categorised as rural women while their active role as farmers is overlooked even today.
Amrita Shergill’s beautiful and melancholic painting of three women came to mind, and I wondered if I could use them as a visual quote in the current dialogue around representation of women farmers. That is how the illustration came about. It was printed for the Women’s day celebration instead, and filmmaker Gurvinder Singh designed the poster. It was a spontaneous collaboration,” she remembers.
Drawing social narratives
Talking about artists’ relationships with protest sites, especially as seen during the CAA-NRC protests and the ongoing farmers’ agitation, Sandhu feels that art is an exercise in observation whether one is painting a landscape, drawing a political cartoon or making a film. That this keenness to observe emerges from curiosity. “It could be that artists are curious people or that curious people become artists. Protest sites with their continual improvisations and diversity of engagement is like a Petri dish for a curious mind. So it makes sense as to why young and old creative people would want to participate and study this human experiment.”
The artist, who moved to Dharamshala from Delhi just before the lockdown is quite optimistic about the future of graphic novels in the country. “We are seeing a plethora of independent publishers who are putting out high quality visual work. As comics go digital, more experimental and interactive work from Indian creators will emerge. I am optimistic about this ever growing readership and the shifts in visual mediums,” she says.
Drawing social narratives
(This article is website exclusive and cannot be reproduced without the permission of IANSlife)
Sukant Deepak can be contacted at sukant.d@ians.in
A group of 2 contemporary artists – Dr.Shirish Ambekar and S. Kanta Reddy will present their latest work in an art exhibition at Hirji Jehangir art gallery, M.G. Road, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400 001 from 6thto 12thDecember, 2021 between 11 am to 7 pm. This show will be inaugurated by Chief guest Rajendra Patil – President of Bombay Art Society and director – Indian Art Festival, Mumbai at Hirji Jehangir art gallery on 6thDec. 2021 at 5 pm in presence of Surendra Jagtap – eminent artist and principal J.K. Academy of art and design, Mumbai and many art lovers, collectors, patrons / connoisseurs and others. The exhibition will showcase the latest series of Dr.Shirish Ambekar in oil colours on canvas and sculptures by S. Kantha Reddy in fibre / metal casting under one roof.
Artist: Dr. Shirish S Ambekar
(l) Dr.Shirish S. Ambekar – Recent work of a contemporary artist from Dr.BabasahebAmbedkar Institute of fine arts, Aurangabad, Marathwada, Dr.Shirish Ambekar in oil colours on canvas illustrates his unique presentation of water lilies series. These works mostly reveal the beauty of nature and aesthetics associated with water lilies in a pond and the impressive life of petals, flowers and other living organisms on leaves in pond full of still water. The aesthetic sense of beauty in each work reveals apt compositional skill and good colour combinations in his unique style and technique. The desired visual effects in each work are really astonishing and pleasantas well as amazing and tranquil. These works, in turn, create good visual impact on all viewers owing to their good aesthetic visual aspects and remind everyone of this divine beauty of nature in ponds having still water and incorporating numerous ingredients that make the artwork impressive and unique in its own way.
Artist: S. Kantha Reddy
(2) S. Kantha Reddy – The recent head series in fibres and metal casting presented by an eminent artist S. Kantha Reddy truly reveals the different facets of the impacts of the outside environment and cultural events around on human mind and the overall personality. Various textures created by the artist on human head in different colour tones and textural finesse indicate the everlasting impacts of the happenings due to modern lifestyle in cities and their hazards on human personality and their impressions on free human beings which shape his life journey.
The sculptures are really very impressive and present a subjective analysis of various mindscapes of human mind and his psychology in relevant perspectives of arts.
From: 6th to 12th December 2021
MESMERISING ART WORK
An Exhibition of Paintings & Sculptures
By
Dr.Shirish S. Ambekar & S. Kantha Reddy
Jehangir Art Gallery Hirji Gallery 161-B, M.G. Road Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400 001
Creativity was initiated with the very first step homo sapiens took on the surface of Earth. Ideas to create tools, food, shelter, and language evolved into the creation of civilization, writings, communities, and beliefs. When the human species moved from Africa and landed in India and its subcontinents, they encountered a land full of resources, opportunities, and benefit to attain livelihood. The thought of how the ancient inhabitants made arrangements for living and continuously were in process of progression is enchanting. People are not considered civilized unless they know how to write. The different forms of writings prevalent in India today are all derived from ancient scripts. This is also true for the language that we speak today. The language we use has roots in ancient times and has developed through the ages. Concluding, the words that we write and speak today came from the fingers of the early humans residing in the caves, where the art of hand prints signifies their identity and recites the story of their existence. Some formation of mutated figures of humans and animals suggests that they may have believed in extramundane powers and hence, it is never wrong to say that the actual potential to believe and create came from early humans in us.
The Indic or Indus culture is world famous for its town planning and ideas for smelting copper and tin to forge it into bronze, though not first, they gave us some fine artifacts to explain the dexterity of metallurgy. The seals and scriptures excavated exemplify their brilliance in creating a new language which is a collection of human and animal figures, innovative signs, and mythological characters. Not fond of paintings the Harappan people gave a major eye to sculptures and architecture. It is said that we have got the intelligence to build peculiar construction plans from the Indus civilization. Believing in powers that are way more compelling than human capacity is rooted in the culture of religion. Early or modern, humans are somehow connected to a force that makes them believe in customs, traditions, and religion. Art was the dominant way to carry forward the stories, platitudes, and epics in form of paintings, sculptures, scriptures, and architecture to the succeeding generations in ancient India.
Today we can see astonishing examples of Buddhist-influenced architecture and art mainly from the Mauryan Empire and Shunga dynasty to the late periods of the Kushan empire, sometimes Gupta and Pala eras, where not only Stupas, samba, Chaityas, and Viharas, but paintings and scripts were also added to the Indian patronage. Vakataka dynasty and Rashtrkutas further gave Buddhism a gleaming light by putting their contribution to the development of Ajanta and Ellora rock-cut caves and murals. Hindus and Jains also imitated the method of hewing caves to suit their purpose mainly at Badami, Aihole, Ellora, Elephanta, Aurangabad, and Mamallapuram under the patronage of Chaulakya, succeeding Rashtrakutas and Pallavas. The period under Gupta’s patronage fully deserves the name ‘the golden age’ of Indian art and culture as they added some magnificent architectural designs, majorly Hindu temples, and sculptures to Indian heritage. With the continuous evolution and progression of dynasties, architectural designs also got distinguished, mainly for temples, into Nagara styles in the Northern parts and Dravidian and Vesara styles in the southern parts of the country.
Indian art was advancing at a good pace with diverse influences from numerous regions, i.e., Rajasthan in the West to Odisha in the East, from Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the south, when the Indo-Islamic culture stepped into Indian lands, carrying a totally new style of art and architecture and hence a mutation was born, with the name Mughal art. Mughal art and architecture soon spread widely, especially during the period of Akbar and Shahjahan. Earlier Indian dynasties never focused much on paintings but on carvings and cuttings, after the Mughal's arrival, Indian paintings got an elevation, showcasing the miniature style of works, being merged with Rajasthani, Rajput, and Pahari styles of miniatures. Soon after the boon of Indo-Islamic culture, the Europeans came into the lands. The East India Company, though fascinated by Indian art favored their European appeal of works. They rooted many art schools to indulge a European allure to Indian art and to satisfy their artistic desires. Indians soon adapted their former cultural themes with a new blend of style stepping aside the European admirers, hence giving birth to the modern and contemporary forms of art. Though culture and heritage have always played a central role in Indian art, the techniques and styles kept on evolving from generation to generation. The prints laid by early humans have always been in our DNA, the Influence of which can be seen in the form of language, visual arts, performing arts, religious or cultural arts, and in ourselves as well.
Text by
Sanchita Sharma@Art Blogazine
1 Image: BULL during various periods and times. Bhimbetka caves, Indus valley, Maurya era, Shunga dynasty, Ajanta caves, Chandella dynasty, Nandalal Bose, M.F. Hussain, Subodh Gupta.
2 image http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/object/LI118.86, Source: google/image / no copyright image fron art blogazine
“During lockdown, many things came to my mind like people survival, development of civilization, technology, political and historical studies. These are all subjects of area which reflects on my recent sculptures.”
- Rajesh Ram
Featuring in 18 Dimensions, Ram’s works will be on display alongside works by 17 other contemporary artists at Bikaner House from 28th November through 6 December.
Jai Bhim, a Tamil language film, has been rated the top film by users on IMDb, beating classics such as The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather. It's the latest in a line of hard-hitting Indian movies telling stories of repression against Dalits who are at the bottom of a rigid Hindu caste hierarchy, writes film journalist Aseem Chhabra.
Suriya as Advocate Chandru Tamil star Suriya plays the role of a crusading lawyer in Jai Bhim
At the beginning of Jai Bhim, police officers are shown separating a group of suspects based on their caste.Those who are from the dominant castes are asked to leave, while others who are Dalits (formerly untouchables) or belong to tribal communities are asked to stay back. Later, police file false charges against those in the second group.It's a stark, disturbing scene, with frightened men standing in the corner, somewhat aware of their fate - a reminder that such activities occur routinely, and how precarious are the lives of the marginalised, especially Dalits, in small towns and rural India.Dalits make up about 20% of India's population, and despite laws to protect them they continue to face discrimination and violence.
Why a doomed love story has become India's sleeper hit
Jai Bhim's title translates to "Long Live Bhim", a slogan made popular by the followers of BR Ambedkar, a Dalit scholar and leader, who was the chief architect of India's constitution and also the country's first law minister.
Directed by TJ Gnanavel, and backed by Tamil star Suriya, the film tells the true story of a crusading lawyer - played by Suriya - who fought for a petition filed by a pregnant woman whose husband was placed in police custody and later declared missing.Jai Bhim is part of a new movement in Tamil cinema where a number of young filmmakers are narrating stories of repression against Dalits."In the last 30 years, beginning with the observance of Ambedkar's centenary in 1991, the Dalit movement has been growing in Tamil Nadu," said film historian S Theodore Baskaran."Forgotten Dalit ideologues of the 20th Century were redeemed from history. The ideas of [social activist and politician] Periyar and Ambedkar spread through the writings of many Dalit writers. In the last decade, some of the writers moved to cinema and made films. But they used the usual ingredients like songs, fights and melodrama."
Now, Dalit narratives have also found space in independent or indie films in other Indian languages, including Anhey Gorhey Da Daan (Punjabi), exploring the lives of Dalit Sikhs; Masaan (Hindi), a romance between a young man from a family of crematorium workers and an upper caste girl; and Fandry and Sairat (both in Marathi). The last two films were directed by Nagraj Manjule, a Dalit himself.
Kaala, starring Rajinikanth, makes a strong statement on discrimination against Dalits
Kaala: India superstar Rajinikanth mixes swagger with politics
Fandry narrates the story of a young boy whose family catches pigs in the village, and his unrequited love for an upper caste girl. Sairat, an inter-caste romantic musical, was a huge box office success. Also in this group is the Tamil indie, Pebbles (Koozhangal), India's official entry for the 2022 Oscar for Best International Film.But now there are many filmmakers in mainstream Tamil cinema whose protagonists are Dalits - who after a long period of discrimination fight for their rights. And when the legal recourse does not end their suffering, they are willing to take the fight to a physical level.The directors include veteran filmmaker Vetrimaaran, who made Visaaranai, a 2015 film about the plight of Tamil migrants in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, and Asuran, a plot inspired by a massacre of Dalits. Mari Selvaraj and Pa Ranjith, both in their late thirties, are two key directors who have created narratives where the Dalit man is the central character.
Sarpatta Parambarai
Sarpatta Parambarai, deeply influenced by Mohammad Ali, explores boxing culture among Dalits
"The representation of Dalit characters was painful," Dalit filmmaker Ranjith, often referred to as the Spike Lee of the Tamil film industry, told The Wire in a 2020 interview, referring to earlier Tamil films. "Either they were written out, or just their inclusion in the story was considered 'revolutionary.'""In this context, I had to reflect on what my stories could say," he added. "I wanted to show that my culture itself is based on discrimination and violence…Today, directors are more conscious when they write Dalit characters."Ranjith produced director Mari Selvaraj's first film Periyerum Perumal. The film opens with a card that reads "caste and religion are against humanity." The film's protagonist wants to become a lawyer like Ambedkar.
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Towards the middle of Periyerum Perumal, Selvaraj has a group of men dancing to a 1983 film song Poradada. Composed by Ilaiyaraaja, a legendary musician and a Dalit himself, the song's lyrics include: "We will take over your throne/… Our cry for victory will be heard/ Our light will fill up this world/ We the proletarians will fight back."The song also plays in the background in Selvaraj's Karnan (2021) and is now referred to as a Dalit anthem.
Ranjith's films were boosted with the support of Rajnikanth, the superstar of Tamil cinema. The actor was moved by the stories narrated to him and agreed to play the lead in Kabali (the tale of a violent gangster world of Tamil migrants in Malaysia) and Kaala (set in Dharavi, Asia's biggest slum located in Mumbai, with a large Tamil migrant population).And in his latest film, the nearly three-hour-long Sarpatta Parambarai, Ranjith explores the boxing culture among Dalits in Chennai city, deeply influenced by Mohammad Ali, and his activism, whether it was against the Vietnam war or racism in the US.
There are some who feel that the representation of Dalit characters in Tamil cinema does not deserve all the praise that it receives. Leena Manimekalai, director of the 2019 film Maadathy: An Unfairy Tale - a disturbing story about a young woman from an ostracised Dalit community - feels the new cinema has not exactly moved the needle."It is feeding into the same hero, hyper masculine, omnipresent, 'larger than life' saviour narratives," Manimekalai said."I still see women characters portrayed as mere props or cheerleaders to their husbands/lovers and the underprivileged communities 'waiting' for their heroes to save them with their axes, guns and sickles, from generations of discrimination."
But it is clear the audience is watching the new cinema. Jai Bhim did not open in theatres so there are no box office numbers to support its popularity. But its 9.6 user rating on IMDb has propelled it to the number one slot on the online database.
With inputs by Sudha G TilakAseem Chhabra is a freelance film writer and author, most recently, of Irrfan Khan: The Man, the Dreamer, the Star.
