Brew August 2013 by Sameer Bharat Ram

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear readers!.

Welcome to yet another issue of the Brew. This time on cover or I should say covers - we are trying a format which we think is doing justice cover or give importance to more than one person. We have Rajat Kapoor on cover who I think is undoubtedly one of the important faces of alternate/ independent Indian Cinema. This three time National award winning Director/Writer and actor talks to us about his life and on the other hand we have two people from Chennai, Artist AP Shreethar and noted Tamil writer Arivumathi in conversation about the state of artists from Tamil Nadu and other issues - A must read. Shreethar is also showing his “White Princess” series - his photo realistic work on Mont Blanc - A first of a kind attempt by any Indian at the Singapore parliament house. The Brew wishes him great success for his show. And to add some more excitement, there is The Brew “Exotic” contest!. please do participate and win Music CDs from Universal music. Keep Brewing!. Until next time.

Sameer Bharat Ram Editor TO ADVERTISE: Prashantth S Sutrave Call: +91 72999 49412 e-mail: admin@brewmag.in

The Brew takes no responsibility for unsolicited photographs or material. All PHOTOGRAPHS, UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED ARE USED FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSE ONLY.

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CONTRIBUTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD Sethumadhavan N. Sethumadhavan.N holds an MBA from XLRIJamshedpur and has a background in the FMCG & Retail sectors. It was while leading the editorial team at PassionForCinema.com (a popular movie portal that’s now defunct) that Sethu realized that his true passion was Cinema and everything connected to it, including the business side of it. Currently based in Mumbai,Sethu works in the education sector and also runs www. madaboutmoviez.com, a portal dedicated to Indie/Small films,Regional Cinema and World Cinema. Sethu has also been associated with filmmaking workshops and film festivals.

Venket Ram Venket Ram is a leading Indian celebrity & fashion photographer, who has shot principal photography stills for several notable films as well as portfolios. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, then joined a course in Visual Communication at Loyola College. After that, he worked with photographer Sharad Haksar and in 1993, started his own studio. He recently released the first two editions of his annual calendars in 2011 and 2012 with an overwhelming response.

Kavita Baliga The young American Soprano, Kavita Baliga has sung in concerts around the U.S., Switzerland, Italy and India with repertoire ranging from Opera and Oratorio, Musical Theatre to Indian film. In 2008, Ms. Baliga joined A.R Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory as a faculty member and founded the KMMC Chamber Choir. She is presently developing performance programmes in India.

Mallika Sarabhai Educated as an economist and a business manager, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s best known Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 countries around the world, but also to the farthest parts of India.

Ashok Verghese Is one of the youngest education entrepreneurs who is making a great difference in this field in the country. He is the Director of the Hindustan group of Institutions, again one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He supports the cause of promoting young talent in art and music.

Neeru Nanda A graduate from Delhi University. Passionate about writing, she freelanced as a feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF” (Rupa & Co), Neeru is now working on two novels and a series of books for children.

Veejay Sai An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art, and loves traveling, researching literary and cultural history. He is an editorial consultant with over 40 brands and designers in and outside India and is on the jury for several prestigious awards in the arts across the country.

Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini Internationally acclaimed, award winning Violin Maestros Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini have been widely applauded as the ‘Queens Of Violin’ and have enthralled audiences across the globe. They have been selected as Cultural Ambassadors and dignitaries to the US and UK respectively. They have published books and written numerous articles relating to Music and religion..

Kyle Hill Kyle Hill is a science writer who specializes in finding the secret science in your favorite fandom. He writes for theScientific American Blog Network at his blog, Overthinking It. Hill also contributes to Slate, Wired, Nautilus, Popular Science, and io9. He manages Nature Education’s Student Voices blog, is a research fellow with the James Randi Educational Foundation, and you can follow him on Twitter under @Sci_Phile.

Rahul Dev Rahul Dev is a Fashion and Advertisement photographer based in chennai

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CONTENTS 16

VOL 03 ISSUE 10

COVER STORY

INTERVIEWS

22 In Conversation

20 15 years of

with Artist Baskaran

34 A missing

following his dreams -rajat kapoor

44 a conversation between ap sHReethar and writer arivumathi

14 pearls of literature Dr. rajaram

FEATURE

Satya

piece - Deepak dobriyal

32 Exotic

priyanka

INTERVIEW

In conversation with writer and educationalist Dr. M. Rajaram IAS Sameer: So tell me about your first experience with Tamil the language and how your interest developed? Rajaram: Anybody who knows Tamil, will read Thirukural. Its compulsory in all classes and to my knowledge two classics are very popular. i) Athichudi, they are all one liners and ii) Thirukural, which are two liners. Kural means anything short. I consider the Thirukural as a universal element just like the bible or the Quran. The Bible and the Quran are religious but Thirukural is not. It has already been transcripted for over 100 times. Rajaji also translated a selected few, but not all. Thirukural has its similarities with the Bible or the Quran or even the Gita. Being a guide to live a perfect and healthy life. It also has solutions to all our modern day problems. It talks about health, politics, life, ethics, love, everything! So among the non-religious books, this is the most translated one. Mine was the 98th translation. The last part of it is completely about ‘Love’. Upon reading this, one would wonder how Thiruvalluvar, being the saintly character that he was, with many moral ethics, could express that romantic life also. My first experience with Thirukural was in school. We were asked to memorise and recite ‘kurals’ and I have received many prizes for recitation at that time. So being a student of english literature, I wanted to translate it into English as Thirukurals were very difficult in English. It was written 2000 years ago, so most of the words are not in use anymore and anybody with basic english knowledge should be able to understand Thirukurals in english. So keeping that in mind, I started my work and took almost 12 years to complete my book. And it’s very difficult to translate and maintain the same feel that Valluvar intended, that too in a poetic form, and in two lines , was very difficult. In the words of Avvaiyar, Thiruvallvar ‘pierced an atom and injected 7 seas into it’ and created the Thirukurals. Meaning, in a small atom, Thiruvalluvar alone can inject 7 seas, and create something so magically. Although written amazingly, it was very difficult to bring it in two lines. One can explain, give meaning, but to bring the actual content without losing any word or meaning is very difficult. Hence the 12 years. I consulted so many great scholars for my work. For example, I had translated a mural which goes ‘If you are going to do a job, do it effectively, or don’t do it’. That was almost 7 years ago, but nobody till date has disagreed or criticised by translation. Rather I’ve received a lot of appreciations, it can found on google also. Dr. Kalam reads my translations everyday and written four words about my work, after having read my book completely. He took about 3-4 months to go through my book completely and only then did he give the four words.

Sameer: Has the ‘Thirukurals’ itself had any effect on you? Have you solved any situations with the help of a ‘kural’ or have you referred it? Any examples of that sort? Rajaram: Thiruvalluvar talks about destiny and he says he doesn’t believe in it. Although some of his works contradict this, he says efforts can overcome destiny. So remember this whenever I face problems. So with a little bit of more effort I’ve been able to tackle issues in my life. In such cases, Thiruvalluvar comes to my rescue. Even when we want to talk something bad about someone, we get irritated , we control ourselves. For example he says “when there are ripe and juicy fruits, why eat the one’s that are not ripe”. Thirukurals always talks about ethics and inspires us in someway. Makes us be more polite and humble. Sameer: What is your plan for the future? Do you have any other tamil books in mind, that you want to translate? Rajaram: I have written about 20 books so far and mostly on education and few are about some general topics. I have visited many countries, but Korea influenced me a lot. Korea was a country like India in the 50s, it was as bad as Bangladesh, you can say. But just because of sheer hard work, they were able to grow and now there are shining like the U.S, because of their sincerity , hard work, loyalty and their patriotism. They work almost 12 hours a day and even my sister was astonished by the sincerity of the hospital staff, when she visited there. She is a doctor herself, so she could spot how much better and hardworking they were. They say ‘work is worship’. Korea grew because of their hard work. I’ve written other books on english literature. I’ve compiled the nuisances of english grammar into english blossoms. My next aim is ‘Queen’s English’, and recently I’ve done a compilation of all my seminar speeches into tamil and it’s called ‘Kalvi Thottam’ and have given all my thoughts on education. My mother-tongue is Telugu, but Tamil is the most sweetest language. It’s literature is beautiful. We should be proud of Tamil because they say the whole world used to talk one single language and there’s a good possibility that, that language was tamil. This is not my statement, but of this well known American archaeologist. He says there are several references in Tamil literature which talks about several rivers, which were existent millions of years ago. These references are available in our Tamil classics. Tamil is one of the oldest languages in the world, so he says it’s possible that Tamil could have been that language. So Tamil is the most beautiful , ancient and scientific language. A lot of foreign researchers are astonished about some of the scientific words of our ancient Tamils. English has many illustrous poets and writers like Shakespeare, Wordsworth etc. Tamil also has many beautiful and thoughtful writers like Valluvar, Avvaiyar and many more. Sameer: Who has influenced you the most? Rajaram: Thiruvalluvar and Avvaiyar are my favourites and have influenced me the most, than anybody else. Because in one word, Avvaiyar used to be so strong and in two words, Valluvar just took it to another level.

COVERSTORY

FOLLOWING

HIS DREAMS RAJAT KAPOOR

“

I am not interested in digital cinema. It doesn’t excite me. I have 6 films till now that are on 35 mm. I don’t like digital, that’s just my personal thing.”

Sameer: You taken time off, from your very busy schedule to help a bunch of young film makers to put up something together which seemed impossible, is it because you love promoting such Cinema? Rajat Kapoor: Yes, I don’t think I would like to say that I have come here to help anybody, I don’t think that’s how things work, I am here to be a part of a film. Its called ‘X’- The Film. A friend of mine is producing the film. And another interesting idea about it, is that 10 directors are coming together to make a film, which is very exciting. And you know I align myself to certain kind of cinema. I believe in certain kind of cinema and I don’t act very often. Because mostly, things that I get offered don’t turn on me. So its only once in a while and I don’t act for money. If the idea is good and exciting, and the people who are making it are exciting, then I jump in. I also look into decent clothing and something exciting where I can sink my teeth into. So this is one such opportunity for me, so, I don’t like the word that one is doing anything to others. And who am I to help anybody anyway. Sameer: You always wanted to be an actor, but somewhere down the line, you started off writing, directing as well? Rajat Kapoor: I started film direction at FTII, 1985-1988 batch. I had done 3 years of apprenticeship and after that I started making films. I made a short film called ‘Taraana’. And then my feature film in 1995 called ‘Private Detective’ which wasn’t released. So nobody got an opportunity to see it. I wrote other scripts and so on. Somehow in the period 1998 - 99, my acting career took off. Somebody called me for an advertisement, then I got ‘Dil Chata Hai’, and then ‘Monsoon Wedding’. I am very happy that I did and I am very grateful that it took care of my money problems. But my real passion is still directing films. That is where my interest lies and I enjoy it. Acting is a very easy job, it gives you money and a lot of attention and who doesn’t like it? Lets say, out of 12 months, I think, 11 months I spend writing, directing, editing and the remaining 1 month I would spend in acting. So that’s the kind of ratio I follow. Sameer: Crowd funding is the new buzz word in Cinema but you did it 10 years ago with Raghu Romeo.? Rajat Kapoor: It was out of desperation. I had written Raghu Romeo and Mithya , So I was trying to raise money for both of them and I could not. Like I said, at that time, my acting work had started and I could manage to save 15 lakhs. But 15 lakhs was not enough for making the film and I had to manage on my own. NFDC said that they will give me 50% on what I raise. I then wrote to my friends and sent them e-mails and that e-mail traveled to people around the world and I actually managed to raise 25 lakhs, out of which 5 lakhs was given to me by Naseer. I promised everyone that if I lose the money, I will return it back to them. It was my personal guarantee. If the film makes profit, then you would have partner influence so it was actually a no-loss decision for them. And of course the film lost a lot of money and the next 5 years I was paying back to them. But I don’t regret that because that was kind of a kick start for my career. I actually became a film maker because of that. I think you have to take initiatives at some point, you can’t be scared. I think we have to follow our dreams no matter however hard they are. There are two things. Firstly, we have to dream, which a lot of us don’t. We end up giving up. We think its not possible so we stop dreaming. I think that’s a huge mistake. You have to dream of what you would like to become. What kind of wings you would like to sprout. And once you have the ability to dream, then you have to go out and make those dreams come true. You have to follow your passion till the end. You cant stop halfway !and i think,People in any field, any kind of success, such as money or business, is just because they follow their dreams Sameer: And how far do you think you have achieved your dreams? Rajat Kapoor: I am living a fantasy life, it was quite resigned to the fact that I will make 3 to 4 films in my entire life, because I thought who would want to watch my films. So I thought I will barely make films and never make any money and I was okay with it. As long as I could continue theater, make one film in 10 years, I was okay with it. And then suddenly things changed, environment changed, multiplexes came in, new kind of audience came in, which made

films like ours possible and also made a few film makers like me and am very grateful. Vinay and I had done a play together “Nothing like Lear”and we were traveling all over the world and once when we were in Israel last year,we were walking inside a theater saying “Damn! This is fantasy”, that we are traveling with a play and people are loving it and they will come and watch it all over the world and it’s a dream come true and that’s what has happened. Sameer: You have been collaborating a lot with Vinay and Ranveer. Is there any particular reason? Rajat Kapoor: Actually not so much. I have done 3 films with Ranveer in main role. With Vinay and its more others who have put us together. ‘Bheja Fry’ was not my film. Even ‘Das Vidariya’ was not my film. And the impression we spenda lot of time together is probably because ‘Bheja fry’ became a hit so people wanted to bring us together, but yes, Vinay is a good friend of mine and I have spent a lot of time in theater with him and travelling to places. I think its great to spend time with friends and travel together. It’s a great journey. Sameer: Are you looking at doing more films, especially now in the age of digital cinema? Rajat Kapoor: I am not interested in digital cinema. It doesn’t excite me. I am very much a film person. I have 6 films till now and that are on 35 mm. I don’t like digital, that’s just my personal thing. I have just finished a film called ‘Ankhon Dhekhi’. We just finished mixing it. The print should be out in probably, 10 -15 days and then we will release it by January. Now I am going to go back and start my new film. Start writing my new script. I have a few ideas for which I have to sit for at least 3 months doing nothing but writing. So, hopefully once they are ready, I would know when I want to shoot them, look for sources of money and all of that. Sameer: These days a lot of Indian actors are being featured in Hollywood films. Are you getting any such opportunities?

Rajat Kapoor: My first film was ‘Monsoon Wedding’, it was a Hollywood film and then I did ‘Midnight’s children’. I actually said no to a very big film last year. The ‘Zero Dark 30’. I was offered a role in that film, but I was shooting my film at the time. They really tried to work on my dates but it was my loss not to be a part of that film. I couldn’t finish my own film. But it will happen when it happens. I believe in it! Sameer: If there is an interesting script, which is in Tamil, would you do it? Rajat Kapoor: Why not! I would like to do one. I would love to do something which is not usually filmy. I have done a few Tamil ads, but nobody has offered me a role in Tamil films yet. Interviewed by Sameer Bharat Ram

FEATURE

In “Satya”, directed by the ever notorious Ram Gopal Varma, there is a scene, when Satya, played by a bearded J. D. Chakravarthy tells Bhiku, played with free flowing relish by bearded Manoj Bajpai, that he wants to leave underworld only because he wants to settle with Vidya (Urmila Matondkar), and that, he doesn’t want to lie to her, and doesn’t feel like being a gangster anymore. Manoj Bajpai insists that he lies one last time, and he will make arrangements for him in Dubai. Immediately after that Bhiku says he’s jealous of him. I have not seen this film for quite some time now. Yet, I remember this scene, very clearly. Because this is the crux of the film. Gangsters are, ultimately, human beings with same good ol’ insecurities.

The film begins with images of a man throwing a newspaper on floor, and shooting it. How much difference does it make? Shooting a newspaper? Does it change anything? The city is burning already… does shooting the newspaper also kill the bad news? No, bad news prevails, every moment, every second. This is Ram Gopal Varma’s world, or, under world. Where there is no good news. Almost always bad news. Anything good that exists, it exists beyond the realms of this world. When these characters aren’t being gangsters, but buddies, husbands, boyfriends. Even in Jail, when they are not gangsters, but inmates, talking personal things, they feel, but they swallow the pulsating, aching veins. Or, are they used to it? Are their lives as messed up as those lives they play with, tease, trouble, and leave them behind, hurt? In a sensational shot, a handheld camera, captures the dirty, rain hampered muddy roads, and Satya enters the city. Cut to the emphatic narration which solves no purpose, but adding just another sad undertone to the film, and to the city, where everyone is always afraid. Of whom, or what, no one knows. The truth is, no one wants to know. This is the truth, was, and forever will be. We are always afraid of something. At-least, of losing what was never ours. Same goes with these people as well. They are gangsters together, more because everyone else is a gangster as well. Given a chance, all would move, away from a fearful life. But then, people become gangsters, so as to become (or, at-least project being) fearless. But nobody ever really gets what he/ she wants, from the bottom of his/her heart. This is a film where gangsters enjoy being gangsters not only because they can scare the hell out of someone else and be powerful, but because

mostly their best friend (and their worst enemy) is a gangster, and they can’t be anything else rather than being one. Imagine Bhikhu Matrey doing some business, say, running a restaurant. I believe he would still beat the hell out of a notorious customer. While most of the patrons, in India, are notorious. Few can even create an issue if their bread is over toasted. I think Bhiku would never tolerate such nuisance. But he does tolerate his wife’s nuisance, because he loves her, and she is beyond the realms of underworld. But that doesn’t mean she is not associated with it, and that also doesn’t mean when the time comes, she won’t be at the receiving end. That however happened with Vidya. Nevertheless, Ramu is least interested in all those plot points. Those are all plot gimmicks he seems to be wary of, the only thing he understands is, if I, as a person, am not told, the guy living next door is a gangster, who fixes electric connections on request, who is humble, quite, and his smile is as formal as anyone who has learnt humility from thankfulness, who sees me as just another troubled man, and I seem to see him the same way, will I ever think he is a gangster? He is not very rich, he doesn’t seem fearless. Can he be a gangster? Who shoots, or scares to earn a living? Yes, it seems, because he chose to. Because there is nothing else he can do. In such a case who is right? The gangster, or the police, who answer them in their own tongue? When Amodh Shukla (played relentlessly by Paresh Rawal) is shot, he screams, achingly… Ironically Khandilkar (Aditya Srivastava) was there, inside his house… as soon as he goes out, he shouts, he pulls out his gun, points randomly, in places, runs randomly, and shouts instructions

uncontrollably, and of course unclearly, but ceases to cross a perimeter… why? Was he afraid that gangsters may now attack the family? Or was he afraid beyond a point he himself may run into trouble? Is it so that by, shouting randomly the killer would come out and say, “Hi… Don’t shoot… I did it!” shivering? The truth is, he himself didn’t know how to react… it was an erratic situation. One that was beyond his control, and his capabilities, and his authorities. His was the dilemma of an ordinary man… subconsciously, he might be afraid of an attack, and he might be giving a damn about the commissioner, rather cursing his fate for being a police officer, or even being a human in the first place. But we can never know what he was thinking. Only thing we know was, he was scared, to his sweating teeth. And in that world of fear, and insecurity dwelled our protagonists. Who loved, each other, cared for each other, wanted to run out of it, yet stayed for each other. They were jealous, angry, frustrated, and that’s why they drank, forgot, forgave, joked, and laughed. Perhaps, we crack best of the jokes when we are together, with the best of our friends, who are probably equally (Or even more) insecure? Pseudo consolation? May be…I was not even 10 years old when I watched the film, when this film released. It released on a Sunday (July 3rd), now that I know. In Kanpur then, In Nishaat talkies they had set up brand new DTS sound system for the film, and hand coloured posters were put up outside the cinema hall. In those traditional single screens, they have a gallery protruding out of the face of the cinema hall. People can walk on it, it is that broad, like an upper lip, only, on a large rectangular face without a nose. Above that gallery, on the face of the cinema hall, they spread out a huge theatrical poster, and occasionally on the face of the gallery, at times, they write the name of the film, with 3D thick plastic letters, or, then, when I watched the film, they pasted a wide, hand drawn poster of the film, covering the face of the gallery. The wide gallery poster exhibited an

intriguing forehead clouded with sweaty hair, and eyes through those hair staring right at me. Right next to that forehead (on my right), in its original font, in Hindi, the word Satya was written, followed by a logo of the DTS sound system, and towards further right the letter ‘A’ was written, encircled, telling us the censor rating of the film. It is unbelievable, from almost 10, to almost 25, years have passed by, time stepped further, we have changed, and so have our sensibilities. Yet, this film still continues to work the way it did in 1998. Not that I understood it completely then, but then still, I remember laughing at Bhiku’s jokes, drooling over the song “Baadalon se kaat kaat ke”, being afraid when that haunting background score sounded. I remember that dreadful face shooting the newspaper, and that narration, from that voice softened after being rough for a long time, seeped sadness and loneliness into my nerves, then, or even when I watched it last. “Satya” turns 15 years old today, and now, it seems more mature a feature than those we are watching and relishing now… or is it a proof that we have become more childish? Accepting circus in the name of cinema? Or we have become more materialistic? Is Satya the greatest film of all time? From last 15 years? The modern Indian cinema? I don’t know… all I know is, Cinema changed after Satya… I remember stepping inside Nishaat talkies… that was a day when people literally whistled, clapped, and cheered in euphoria, not because Salman Khan, or Shah Rukh Khan appeared on screen, but Ramu’s name did. Since then, that has changed as well, rather dolefully. - Salil Shankar Note- This was originally published in www. madaboutmoviez.com

INTERVIEW

Living an Artist’s Dream! - Through the life strokes of artist Baskaran

Sameer - So tell us how you started off, were you a born-artist, your inspiration? Baskaran - Yes! I was a born artist, just like how my close friend and artist A.P Sreedhar says, everybody in my house used to draw ‘kolam’ exceptionally well. Especially my mom and sister were really good at it and could do a ‘kolam’ of any size. As a kid I was really inspired by that. When I was in the 5th grade, my bench mate Dinesh, used to paint and draw extremely well. So everybody in the class used to go to him during Art class to get their drawings done, it was a regular practice in our class. And one day I went to him with the same request and for some reason he denied that day, and I was really irritated. I didn’t know how to complete my drawing, so I had no other choice than to do it myself. So I started drawing that night, and I kept to it, and I won the drawing competition that year and he was second. So that was my start and I would say ‘Dinesh’ was one of the major reasons for that. Sameer - I’m pretty sure everybody’s tried their hand at drawing, but taking it a step higher is the difficult part. How did you go about it? Baskaran - Actually, the role Dinesh played was the most crucial one, he brought out the art or whatever it was, out of me. It was always inside me. So I decided that this is going to be my career and started drawing all kinds of things, all the time. My parents always used to point out that I spent more time drawing and painting than I did studying. And I didn’t have any theme as such I was ready to draw anything I see. So I started taking part in all kinds of competitions in school. From inter-school to inter-city, to inter-state competitions, I won even All-India level competitions when I was in school itself. I represented Tamil Nadu in an All-India competition on a student level, which was held in Delhi and won first prize and received it from our then Educational Minister. And it was him who advised me to join The Government College of Arts and Science, once I finished my 10th. So I applied and went to pay the fees and everything with Sreedhar and his father. They told me there was an entrance test and it involved portraits. I was really scared by this as i had never done portraits before in my life,

whereas Sreedhar was my senior and was trained in that category. But still I was ready to give it a go since I was an artist and I had a vague idea of how to go about it. So there was this girl sitting in front of me wearing a yellow churidhar, and I was sure she was one of those Church Park girls, who spoke really good English. And at the time, I did not know a word of English. I saw her using charcoal with ease, and I was familiar only with crayons at the time, so I was really intrigued looking at how much easier it was. I was a little reluctant at first, but I gathered enough courage to go ask her for a piece of the charcoal. She gave me a look, and a piece of the her charcoal. So I started drawing and as I was about to complete my portrait, I felt a hand on my shoulder, turned around to see an old man and he said to me ‘You’ve been selected’ and walked off. I was really confused and that’s when my friend Sreedhar told me who that old man was and that I got the seat. It was none other than the college principal Mr. Santhanaraj. And the girl in yellow churidhar, whom I told you about, is my wife now! In fact she was the only girl I spoke to in college that day, so it’s kind of a miracle if you think about it, she didn’t even know a word of Tamil at the time and I got selected with the help of that piece of charcoal that “she” gave me. The fact that gives me a lot of joy till date is that even before I joined college, I had received prizes on a national level, even from our former Chief Minister Dr. M.G. Ramachandran. Sameer -Tell us about your college experience Baskaran - College was very different than I had expected. I thought I would be taught a lot about art but that was not the case The College never taught anything, it just created situations, it created the environment. The campus, there would be a model, basically the essential materials will be provided for us and learning was an internal process, we had to create, we had to practice and learn. The teachers used to mind their own business and this really irritated me. So one day I walked into the principal’s office with this complaint and sensing my innocence and my hunger to learn, he came to the class and decided to demonstrate doing a portrait, with a model. The whole college was stunned to see this new

first year boy voluntarily bringing the Principal to class. As he started drawing, we were all mesmerized by his style of drawing, it was so fast and precise that pieces of charcoal were flying all over the place. I requested Mr. Santhanaraj to teach me his unique technique that day and he readily accepted. That incident gave me a lot of popularity in college at that time. People were impressed by my boldness and innocence. Once a couple of German artists paid our college a visit and showed us some demonstration. It was a new and unique style for us and at the end of it they wanted a volunteer from the crowd to give it a try. Everybody in the crowd including my seniors were very hesitant and scared, as was I. But that didn’t stop me from stepping forward and giving it a try. That one incident that day made me the college hero instantly! Right or wrong, I gave it a try and over-night people knew my name in college because I gave an attempt which nobody else was ready to do. Practice makes a man perfect, they say. All I did was drawing, all the time. In this field they say drawing trees is a difficult task as it involves a lot of detailing. So I started drawing a lot of trees, close to 10,000 drawings of trees. There was this ground next to our college, I’m pretty sure I’ve drawn a picture of every single tree there. Central station was also one of my favorite spots for my drawings. So practice does make a man perfect, and the relentless sketching is what made me who I am today. Sameer- So how many shows have you done Sir? Which was your most prestigious show ever? I mean the most memory associated, dreamrealizing sort of show.. Baskaran - I’ve done close to 40 shows out of which 15-18 were solo shows. I’ve done two shows in Jahangir, which is a very big deal for an artist my age since we get slots in Jahangir once every 7 years and we need to get past a screening committee who review our work first. So it’s a pretty big deal for me. I feel all of them were prestigious in their own way. Dream realizing, I would say, my Singapore show was really amazing and it was, in fact, like a dream come true. Because coming from a village, my father into agriculture and sent me to Chennai to study, I never thought I would reach such heights. I did face a lot of criticism initially from a lot of people, stuff like ‘he’s wasting his time’, ‘he won’t get a job’, ‘he’s going to grow a beard and roam around’. So since my childhood, all I wanted to do was change this ideology. From my dressing sense, to everything, I was different from everybody else in college. Friends used to smoke and do all kinds of things,

but I did what I thought was right. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. So I was different like that. I got a chance to do a show in Singapore, so I spent on it, did the show, and it was a major success. It made overall revenue of about 3.5 lakhs, which was a very big deal for me that time, I was so happy. I thought I had achieved it. So during that show, there was this lady called Reshmi who visited the gallery while I was out and she really liked one of my paintings and she bought it. The next day Reshmi visited the store, this time with her husband. He was telling me how amazing my painting is and that his wife didn’t sleep the whole night, staring at the painting and that he convinced her that they would visit in the morning. Turns out they were big-time art collectors and were telling me how different my painting is making them feel from the rest. It was basically a painting of this man walking with an umbrella through this pathway, which i drew in Kodaikanal. They told me they felt like they were taken to that man’s spot as they kept getting into the painting. Sameer- That’s brilliant! What kind of subjects have you had to handle? Do you have any particular subject that you’re really into? Baskaran - As I told you earlier I draw anything and everything, don’t exactly need a subject to work on. But these days I’ve chosen to do some more work taking water-colour as a medium, because people say watercolour is the toughest medium. If you can handle that medium, you have achieved something, they say. I’ve done a lot of subjects though, I’ve done forests as a subject, I’ve done some current-affairs related work, water resources, afforestation, did some work related to the Sri Lankan problems, even did some about the Tsunami disaster when it occurred. So yeah, I’m open to all subjects! Sameer - What is your take on modern art, since your doing some work in that area now? Baskaran - I do like modern art. Basically, say you take a square inch of my painting, it will represent modern art. That’s what I feel. Modern art was born because of photography, is what I feel. Artists started facing a lot of problems after the invention of photography because it was kind of a replacement for an artist, if you think about it. Hence came along modern art to break that barrier (real vs. painting). When I was studying for my B.F.A, there was a need for specialization. So I picked ‘abstracts’ and I did a lot of natural abstracts. Abstracts are basically about simplicity, how to break a thing into simple form. Say we are talking about landscapes, we can

show the distance by using different colour temperatures. For instance, red is a warm colour , it will be seen through any mist or fog, any climate. Hence the use of red for traffic signals. Picasso is one of my biggest inspirations. He had done a ‘Bulls Series’, very natural and a brilliant example of modern art, at that time itself. He was the only artist in his era to have that kind of a vision and fortunate enough to get that kind of recognition. Even the Queen had to wait for him. It is a big inspiration. Several Indian artists have also achieved that kind of recognition. They say once an artist gets into his painting, one should never disturb his travel into his imagination. Even my paintings are like that. You will be able to get into the painting, feel it! It is the result of a feel the artist had, it cannot be achieved by sheer copying from a photograph, one has to feel it, from inside. Sameer - Interest in any other medium in water colour itself? Any mixed medium you are interested in? Baskaran - I have been doing a lot of mixed media recently. I’m very much interested in that category and have done a lot of experimental pieces. Water colour is basically a tough medium, not a lot of people can/have mastered it. Even if they have, they would have done till A4 size paper, nothing bigger, because it’s difficult to work with. My wife is also an artist, she works as an Art teacher in Vidhya Mandhir and is also the Head of Department there. So she also tells me I’m really good at water-colour and that I should do a lot more. So do my daughters, who are also exceptional artists themselves.

My eldest daughter has won many prizes for painting and drawing, and has bought herself all kinds of things with her prize money. So water-colour is what I doing right now. I’m always ready to change according to the future trends. Sameer - So you told us about the charcoal borrowing and the girl in yellow churidhar. Was that just a conversation starter or..? Baskaran - No, I really had never seen charcoal pencil before and my only intention at that point was to get it. In fact we never spoke to each other for the first two years of college. But destiny had it’s ways. I sold a painting of mine at this expo in our college that time and it went for 750 rupees. I spent that ‘first salary’ also on her, bought her a pizza. The first girl to ever get on my bike was her, although we were just friends back then. Sameer - Your plan for the future? Any unfulfilled dreams/targets? Baskaran - Nothing big. I just want to keep doing what I do best, till I die! Sameer - Thank You sir, we’ll make sure to mention your love story! Interviewed by Sameer Bharat Ram

MUSIC

EXOTIC Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra’s second single Exotic will be featured throughout the 2013 Guinness International Champions Cup as the soccer tournament’s official theme song. The announcement was made by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures and the organizer of the Guinness International Champions Cup, in conjunction with Interscope Geffen A&M and Universal Music. The Guinness International Champions Cup, organized by Relevent Sports, a division of RSE Ventures, and broadcast by FOX, is the first-of-its-kind soccer tournament taking place across the globe with contests in Phoenix, San Francisco, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Miami and Valencia, Spain. Eight teams are taking part in the tournament including club teams from Spain, Italy, England and the United States. The tournament will kick off on July 27 in Valencia, Spain and will be contested over seven days at six marquee venues across the United States, with semi-finals at Met Life Stadium and Dodger Stadium on Aug. 3-4. She was once crowned Miss World in front of millions, but now Priyanka Chopra is strutting her stuff for hip hop fans. The Indian beauty queen is the star of Pitbull’s music video for his latest hit, Exotic, where she shows off her international assets in sexy swimsuit. Easily living up to the song’s title, Chopra flaunts by her fabulous figure and gorgeous mane of dark hair in the video, which was released on Thursday. ‘I recorded Exotic in Ibiza with musical genius and visionary RedOne and none other than Mr. Worldwide aka Pitbull,’ Priyanka said in a statement, according to Just Jared. ‘Together they helped me create a hot and sexy summer anthem that I am so proud of! This is just the beginning, and I can’t wait to share this song and the rest of the album with you!’ The rapper joined in the lovefest by tweeting, ‘thanks so much to @ priyankachopra and @RedOne_Official for letting me get #exotic #desi #dale.’ As Priyanka basks in the ocean wearing an almost see-through swimsuit and flings her hair back in the waves, she looks perfectly comfortable making sultry eyes at the camera. As the video progresses,the beauty queen-turned-singer changes into a

glittering mini dress to dance with Pittbull. She then showcases a rapid-fire change of outfits, from a black wrap dress to tiny hotpants and day-glo high heels as she struts alongside a pool. In one hot scene, she squeezes into skin-tight gold trousers, a satin bra top and a glittering necklace as she straddles the singer in a huge leather arm chair. Proving she has sexy dance moves as well as drop dead good looks, Chopra leads a group of dancers in a routine later in the raunchy shoot. The scantily-clad entourage also took their act to a leafy forest as they all danced in unison amongst the tropical trees. Joining forces with notorious rapper seems like an odd move for former Miss World, but the 30-year-old from Jamshedpur, India, has long aspired to become a professional singer. She claims her biggest vocal influence was her father and she soon incorporated singing as part of her pageant act. After being crowned Miss World in 2000, Chopra went on to sign a recording deal with Universal Music Group through DesiHits, and met with manager Troy Carter, CEO of Atom Factory (which also manages Lady Gaga). To win Exotic music CDs just answer the question on the cover. Send your answers as message to the official Brew page fb.com/thebrewmagazine

FEATURE

THE MISSING PIECE The talented actor Deepak Dobriyal has been missing from the big screen for a while. But we’ll get to see a lot of him soon beginning with his forthcoming release- Chor Chor Super Chor. Here’s Deepak Dobriyal himself talking about his upcoming flicks.

Chor Chor Super Chor, sounds like a mad caper. What is the film about? Yes it is a fun film. A film that also has a very warm heart at its core. It is about this guy who is a chor. He wants to turn over a new leaf so he stops stealing. But the world doesn’t let him, he is forced by circumstances to resume chori, and how he gets into trouble is the story of the film. How was the experience? It was heartrendingly satisfying. We worked as a single unit, contributing at every stage, creatively, and collaborating seamlessly to come up with a film that is honest and earnestly made. There have not been any compromises for the sake of making money or any concessions with the vision that we had when we began the film. And so yes, a wonderful film has resulted, and fingers crossed, the audiences will love it to. You have had a slew of quirky films in the past. Is that a conscious decision? I prefer to do work that requires me to be involved, that demands involvement from me and the rest of the team is also equally involved and into the whole process. So what do you look for in a film when you sign on? I look for content. For intent. The maker should convince me that he or she is meaning to make something earnestly, give his or her best to the project. I give a lot of myself to every role I play, every film I do, and I expect the same from the maker. Blame it on my theatre background but I just cannot be part of a set up where things are being done for the sake of it. You belong to the world of Theatre and stage, tell us about that experience? Theatre is all about team work. Everything has to be done by everyone, right from stage sets props to costumes, story, acting, everyone has to chip in in all departments. Theatre as a medium demands a lot from you.Everyone is playing a character, either on or off stage and there is no hierarchy; no one is you know superior or inferior out there. Theatre in that sense is a huge leveller. Yet, the jump to the silver screen. Why? Theatre doesn’t pay. Every actor leaves the stage to earn, since theatre doesn’t pay at all. It is very important to make ends meet, something that gets pretty difficult in theatre. So how much of your theatre past play a role in your cinema present? The films I do, the scripts I choose, the way I work, my work culture stems from Theatre. Whatever be the film, I am always involved. I come to the sets with a mentality of a theatre artist. I linger on the sets once my job is over, help around, lights, with sound, lighten up the mood at times. I cannot be like those actors who come, give their shots and then vanish into their vanity vans. That is where my theatre past comes in. A collaborative approach to film making is what I bring to the table in every film that I associate with. How easy or difficult it is for a stage actor to make a mark in Bollywood? See to make a mark, to establish an identity is dependent on you. I can easily do a slew of big budget commercial films where all I have to do is walk behind the hero as his dutiful friend. The films make crores and I become a known face both in the industry and the audiences. Then there is the other way, where I choose work that gives me satisfaction. The work that I do and look for falls in the latter category. And you have refused big budget films? Of course I have. Many in fact. After Omkara, and then Tanu wed Manu I had many offers. Save for a Dabangg, which I did only cause Arbaaz Bhai is a close friend, I have kept commercial cinema at bay. By commercial cinema here I mean roles that expect me to do nothing more than be a showpiece. I consciously look for work that has content. That will make people take notice, notwithstanding the fate of the film. Does the film’s box office fate not worry you? Isn’t that important for an

actor as well? Look, I wouldn’t lie, money is important. Yet, what I also believe is that I have tried to make a path for myself, I want to be known by my work, by my acting abilities. I do not hanker for visibility or money or fame. I want to be known for the efforts I put in my role. And I am getting them in the small scale films that I have been doing. That is most important for me as an actor. Teen They Bhai, for example, did not exactly work wonders at the box office. Yet, there are many who remember my work in it, they remember my efforts. That is my reward. That is why I do cinema. A banner does not matter in your scheme of things? Definitely not. I get roles which are not sketched well. I get roles that , in my view do not respect me as an actor do not value me as a human being. Why should I allow myself to be a helper to the hero in films? What is my character graph? Where do I come from? What is my back story? It infuriates me that a big banner film never gives me that scope to even do basic acting. I refuse to give in to such a mindset where since it is a huge banner, a big commercial cinema, I should let go of my beliefs and just play a dumb role on screen for visibility. I’d rather do a small film where I have a full-fledged well written role. Where my role has an identity that is unique and well defined. So does box office failure not dishearten you? It does. It does, but then I also derive satisfaction from the fact that I did a good role, I got to display a side of my acting that I haven’t before. Plus the whole experience of working on films like these is something I always will cherish. Teen they Bhai for example, came along with Tanu Weds Manu. It suffered due to lack of promotions. Small films have that problem. Yet, I have fond memories of the film. I cherish that. Promotions are a huge part of films today. There hardly is much noise

around Chor Chor Super Chor. How important do you think is creating a buzz pre release? Promotions are huge in the industry today and over done at the same time. Big films like Tanu weds Manu, eat into the space that small films like Teen they Bhai have. It is a weird thing today that while we have ample spaces to exhibit small films today, we do not have space to promote them. Big films swamp the mind space, suffocate smaller films. And a lot goes into making these smaller films. That is harmful for the future of cinema I feel. That should stop. Films run and make money on the basis of promotions these days. Content should instead drive a film ahead. Our film is strong on content, and that will take us through to the audiences with ease. With such a belief system is finding work tough? It is, I would not refute that. But then again, I am happy with the kind of work I am doing, and there is a huge trend of small films standing out in the bheed of huge big budget films. So am happy. I cant complain as long as I am working on my own terms. Have you thought of going back to theatre any time? I might go back to start an acting institute some time in the future, but never to acting on stage anymore. Stage is not what I left it as anymore. I did theatre in Delhi. The scene today there is like get a producer, a director in the audience for your shows and act so you impress them and bag a movie part. Theatre has become a means to get on to the silver screen. There is no devotion to the craft, no sincerity left in it anymore. I cannot work in a set up like that. So no I do not think theatre would work for me anymore. - Ameet Bhuvan Note- This interview was originally published in www.madaboutmoviez.com

WHITE PRINCESS alias MONT BLANC Paintings by AP Shreethar

The collection embraces the majestic Mont Blanc peaks in myriad forms. On display are select glimpses of the vast collection that has many more secrets to reveals about the snow capped peaks. Exhibition is on from: 30th August 2013 to 1st August 2013 At The Arts House 1 Old Parliment Lane, Singapore 179 429 facebook.com/theartshouse

COVERSTORY

WHITE PRINCESS alias MONT BLANC A curator’s point of view - Yuhi Sethu Ever since the cavemen painted in Lascaux and Altamira until today, that there has been not much earth shattering changes in the form and content of the narrative in the art, more so in the Teller’s Devices. The What and How have not undergone much change as the ‘What of the How’ has; the Tools have changed. The telling is in the tools too. From tactile textured hand dabbed arts to the cool distanced pigment dropping arts, from Ernst to Pollock, the distance between artist and his works is bridged by tools and contrivances by a mouse click. That distance has being further enhanced by several emerging tools in the techniques. The ‘What of the How’ here in artiste Ap.Shreethar’s rendering, a sort of a tribute to the charming summit Mont Blanc summons the different tools available for a modern artist in the techno-age. The texture in Ap.Shreethar’s renderings, strangely here have the sensuous touch of Ernst and as well as the tools’ distancing of Pollock. A Cat running across piano keys creates a muse not music; A Rooster doodling as it picks tiny insects, is not Sand art; Pigeons head bobbing as they walk, is not dance; at least not the ones critics would indulge in reviewing. This Mont Blanc series of 121 paintings created between 2012 and 2013 by the artist has the passionate proximity and wise distance. Very uniquely it attempts to look at the greatest peak fro equipoise, as if looking at the ‘eye’ level of it; this avoids an aerial or looking down upon the peak as if it were a valley. It is not an eagle’s point of view. It is a peer’s, a neighborly peak’ view; looks as if the artist is meeting the summit in its own terms. This equipoise fits the serenity of Mont Blanc. As the point of look offers a ‘View’ the textures and layers, of the physicality of the mountain and the layers done in the paintings elevates to a ‘vision’. It offers the hitherto hidden perspective, gives a sense of the third dimension, adding that much needed feel factor, the ‘Awe’. Roerich, the Great Russian artist painted the Mount Everest in 1924. And in 2013 Ap.Shreethar an Indian artist has paid tribute to the Mount White princess, the Mont Blanc. Shelley went to Mont Blanc a century earlier than when Roerich went to Mt.Everest. Shelley wrote in his meditative poem Mont Blanc: Lines Written in the Vale of Chamouni: calling the snowy peak “remote, serene, and inaccessible,” In between Shelley and AP Shreethar there were only two air crashes, ironically both by Air India planes. Roerich’s offering of the Mt.Everest was mystical, ethereal and dark and light played about dramatically in his palette. In contrast AP Shreethar’s tribute here is in broad day light open to skies and yet catches the serenity and the awe of being on the top, alone. The

drama is inherent in that the shifting sun’s tentativeness inadvertently casts a net of naturally falling chiaroscuro across the mountain in blues & whites Vs black. Lit on one side, squally on the other makes it be content with the remaining scattered light spill over, offering a fill which would have otherwise lent it a chiaroscuro in blues & whites Vs black’ only. The sky and the clouds are a smoky textured rendering of the same tactile feel the frothy Mountain and the snow give; with relief when sudden rocky granites peep out. The acrylic layering in effect coats the depth and perspective adding a unique feel and touch. Acrylic is fast-drying, but not ‘fast-dying’. The limited chromatic spread is compensated by factors of realism, accentuating the verisimilitude and also a judicious choice of the hues. The different moods of the skies and its fall on the summit are captured within the bounds of naturalism here. The Parts to the whole blending, the tone with the mother scene is quite complete. The mounting of the mountain is in varied dimensions, also a circular one reminding one of Daguerre’s photos. To contain the vast expanse of the mountainous ambience even a huge Canvas only to a certain extent ‘can’. The style is in a sense revivalist of vintage traditions and the photo-synthetic techniques make it possible in a unique modern way. This matches with the rock steady calmness of the mountain – as Marie Seaton would say of Satyajit Ray’s films, “The stillness in ray’s films is never static”. So is the case here too. The Photo Realism akin to Naturalism here reassigns meanings like - it is better to leave nature be close to itself, without an artiste’s over indulgence, sometimes. As Mr. Franck Priot ( COO of Film France) said, ‘’ The paintings take just one revisit to the golden contours of Mont Blanc . It has neither the malevolence of grayish blue, nor the mystique of white. It’s almost like discovering a burning pile of woods amidst the ice; the paintings bring a sense of warmth. ” In 200 years there have been only two painters who have covered the summits and AP Shreethar will find some more yards to climb after his trip to the summit. To paraphrase Arthur Koestler: “ When I was airdropped on the summit I had a beautiful view; now after many years when I climbed the summit on my own what I saw was a Vision”.

Yuhi Sethu talking about the depth of the painting

Aravind Swamy in conversation with AP Shreethar

AP Shreethar with French film maker Frank.

Padmashree Kamal Hassan posing with the Mont Blanc.

Mohan Lal expressing his views on the Mont Blanc

Gautham Menon & Lingusamy with AP Shreethar

Rajat Kapur, Sudhish Kamath, Sameer, Aditi with AP Shreethar

Air Asia CEO Mr. Mittu Chandilya mesmerized by Mont Blanc

K Balachander exploring the textures in the Mont Blanc

AP SHREETHAR in conversation with

ARIVUMATHI

“

I have been heavily influenced by great intellectuals like Shri Kamal Sir and Mohan lal sir, very few people only know that these people actually could have been great artists themselves but chose cinema as a medium to express their creativity.”

44 | AUGUST 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | AUGUST 2013 | 45

46 | AUGUST 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Arivumathi: In TamilNadu, is the field of art undergoing a crisis? Do you agree? Shreethar: You can’t call it a crisis, but there was actually a crisis 3-4 years back, but now it is growing and is not under crisis anymore. Arivumathi: Who do you think has changed it? How’s do you think it is growing? Shreethar: It is mostly because of the change in the public’s need for art. People first look for the necessity. . But people still haven’t really gotten into art, although the real estate rates and the gold rates are booming. But the thought about art is comparatively less. People’s interests are into many different things now. Suddenly a piece of art will go for about 8-9 crores, that time the interest is shifted towards art again. That is generally how it works. Arivumathi: We go to a lot of art galleries, but we only see art from Calcutta, Delhi or Bombay. There are very minimal local artist contributions. Customers and even the press have a perception that the local (Chennai) art has a much lower value. Shreethar: People always think anything from another foreign place is more valuable and better than the local artworks. For instance, if you take water colour paintings, Bengalis are known for it and are best at it. The south might not be able to keep up, but everybody is good at their own thing. There are artists like, Rajkumar Sathabathy, Sivabalan and Bhaskar when you see their work you’ll see a master stroke; their water color works are the only ones that are up to par with the Bengal standard. Arivumathi: In the cavemen ages they would draw and write on rocks do you think that is where Tamil art form began? How is this preserved by Tamil Shanmugam’s work? Shreethar: In other places people took the efforts to preserve old artwork whereas in Tamil Nadu these efforts were not there leaving the newer generations to have little or no knowledge of past Tamil art forms. While artists like Ravi Varma’s works have been preserved, other artists of his time have been lost with the ages. If you look at art has a whole and not just painting you will see that South Indian artists are some of the world’s best when it comes to engraving and sculpture. I would like to ask you something now; how was it when you came here with your poetry and how is the standard for poetry changed over the ages? Arivumathi: During my days, it was a big deal to even get five poetry books, while now there are new books that are showcased every 4-5 months, and today books that are very valuable are available to poets. There is a lot more available to people of this generation but the beauty of nature and the opportunity to depict and experience that is not available to the talented poets of this generation. The connection I had with nature when I bathe in a pond of tiny biting fishes and in the Ragi we had everyday cannot be experienced by today’s poets. The distance between nature and these creators have increased. Today, the beauty of nature can be sensed only if we are ready to travel. But those days, until I was 16, we have never spent money on fishes. The entire river was like our own. Those days were my days. A life where there is no difference between men and women. My poems have all been reflecting my long standing memories of those 16 years. There are many young world famous artists today. These creators today have deeper thoughts in their poems. The style of writing today seems to be upgraded from our old writing styles and the flow of words. And to be specific, female poets seem to create their own style for themselves at an early age or at a greater pace than the male poets. But the drive for someone to be an artist or a poet is missing in today’s world. The scenario today is where everyone has a mobile phone or a Facebook page, where they can convey their thoughts in 2 or 3 lines easily. Our mind doesn’t wait for the thoughts to ferment and grow into a piece of art. Moreover, technology has stopped people from creating valuable books. Work today seems so easy where you can upload your work on Facebook and it can be seen and read by anyone. Shreethar: Wonderful! Now Tamil is a very ancient language. Records preserved and studies say that this beautiful language has been prevailing from over 2000 years. And English, I believe is not so old. But why is the level of importance given to English is not actually given for Tamil? The ideas created in English have not been seen in Tamil. Why is that so? Arivumathi: That is because of the way the language has been governed. The identity that was stolen or stripped from us. The language as a whole has been through lots of sad and painful journeys. If we turn pack to those ages of Cholas, Cheras and the Pandiyas, every kingdom had its own identity, its own styles of art forms. People found a way to create or mend things as Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | AUGUST 2013 | 47

per their thoughts and needs. The connection between people and nature was so strong that a person would rather die than cutting a tree down which can save his life. Shreethar: Yes! But why is our work not seen such a growth yet? Arivumathi: We have been pushed into a life of slavery. Our identity, our ideas and out talents in the form of written words, the unique language, have all been lost. We never got the opportunity to save it. Today, we don’t even teach the ancient ideas to our children. They are not able to learn thing in our own mother tongue. And in this is keeping us away from exposing out brilliant talents to the outside world. The sculptures that were made in mammalapuram were one of the best in the world. The elephants, the deers and beautiful relationship of these animals living together as a family. The king and his people, all depicted in a beautiful way in the art form of sculptures were at its best only in and around Mammalapuram. But even these standards have gone down due to the inability of people to share their art forms to the younger generations. This was also because many creators did not get the opportunity to share. Similarly the drawings of Sidhu Nawab, the lotus flower, the fishes that swim between the lotus leaves, and other life like paintings done by so many talented south Indian artists from over 2000 years, but unfortunately we are not in a situation to exhibit these excellent art works to the outside world. The temple structure we see today as various flows. The royal kings lived in such huge palaces. It is believed that ‘Kannagi and Kovalan’ prayed to god from the sixth floor, directly towards the idol. Is it is true that the people should admire any form of art. We feel like providing more art works for the people when they enjoy there arts. A pot was given such great important those days. There were lots of pots for water, clay pots for cooking. But now we have stainless steel, bronze utensils and now plastic vessels as well. This process of making clay pots was considered as an art. Then they started hanging pots on the doorways and may clay horses and elephants as a form of clay art. Shreethar: you might have read many books. Arivumathi: yes! Shreethar: have you ever felt them being related to your life? Did any of the books make you wonder how you missed to depict the same in your poems? Arivumathi: yes, I have felt this lot when I read through some beautiful lines of mayananthan, Suratha ayia, kannathasan, sometimes even vairamuthu has new thoughts in his poems. But the only song that moved me was ‘Kankal neeye katchi neeya’ from the film ‘mupozhudhum un karpanaigal’. it is a song that shows the love that a mother has towards her son. Similarly, was the song by Vairamathu ‘va va en thevathai’ from ‘abhium naanum’.

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Arivumathi: So, Mont Blanc art journey. How did it start? How did it become a tour? Shreethar: The Himalayan Mountains were ones studied by a Rushian painter called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Roritchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. He has drawn wonderful artworks of Mt.Everest and they are all preserved in the museum now. This fascinated me and I saw s study on Mont Blanc, Which depicts two Air India flights crashed there. So many Indians have lost their lives at the very same spot. This inspired me and I decided to start a painting series based on it. To provide the real look and feel, I used various layers of modeling clay with museum standard paintings. This gave my project its quality international standard. This Series is going to be showcased at the prestigious Singapore Art Gallery on 30th of august. I have shown it to a few people who are closely connected to the Mont Blanc and I am happy to have good reviews so far. My dream is to create the Mont Blanc series and showcase them at the Mont Blanc museum. I am sure that I will achieve this dream. Arivumathi: There is a lot of difference between Antique and Modern art. Which one do people prefer for their households? Shreethar: People have different opinions and perceptions. For example, when you look into this subject from a view point of a married couple, the husband might like modern art but his wife would prefer an antique artwork. Similarly, I have also analyzed that the middle class people prefer an antique art piece and the upper class people fall for a modern art work. Arivumathi: You have been working with a lot of actors from the film industry and making a lot of portraits for them, like Say Shri Kamal haasan...Is there any particular reason? Shreethar: The truth is i have been as an artist been heavily influenced by great intellectuals like Shri Kamal Sir and Mohan lal sir and a few others from the film fraternity. Very few people only know that these people actually could have been great artists themselves but maybe chose cinema as a medium to express their creativity. When I get an opportunity to meet Kamal Sir every time , I feel am blessed because I learn a lot from the great man. There are very few people in this world like him who can understand and appreciate art. I wish that all artists in the world get an opportunity to meet Kamal Sir.Same is with Mohan Lal sir. His collection of art and antiques is enviable. He is a great art enthusiast and a connoisseur. Am truly lucky to be in contact with such people. Photography by Tamizhthambi

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WHITE PRINCESS alias MONT BLANC Paintings by AP Shreethar

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WHITE PRINCESS alias MONT BLANC Paintings by AP Shreethar

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WHITE PRINCESS alias MONT BLANC Paintings by AP Shreethar

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ART

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For reservations, please call Ms. Beni Kikon on +91 99628 46624 or 6631 3131 Extn: 3951 E- Mail: Beni.Kikon@tajhotels.com / jivaspaclubhouse.chennai@tajhotels.com Taj Club House, Chennai, No.2, Club House Road, Chennai - 600002, India T 91 44 66313131 F 91 44 6631 3030 E clubhouse.chennai@tajhotels.com 56 | AUGUST 2013 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew