PICTURE SPEAK

SIGHTS OF SPLENDOUR: Works by A. Ramachandran

One of our most well-known and highly regarded artists, who was for long a professor of art at the Jamia Milia Islamia, this Shantiniketan-trained Malayali painter has evolved dramatically in a career spanning over four decades. Initially, he was known for his massive and morbid visceral anatomies painted in the expressionist style. Over the last two decades or so, however, this thinking and articulate painter has turned totally lyrical in the indigenous mode as it were.

Obviously drawing from Sanskrit literature and classical legends on one hand and extremely localised personal relationships on the other, Ramachandran today creates vividly coloured and intricately composed images that display an eclectic mix of pictorial elements and devices assimilated from as diverse sources as north-Indian miniatures, Kerala murals, even Chinese art. His visual concerns over the last two decades or so have shifted radically to create an idealised sanctuary somewhat reminiscent of the kind one finds in works of the post-impressionist French painter Henri Rousseau (1844-1910).

Apart from the Rajasthani nayikas (in his case referred to as yakshis after the Bengali sculptor Ramkinkar Baij) set in a splendorous landscape, Ramachandran's works are teeming with secondary characters, mythical birds, animals, fish and sometimes the artist himself as a discreet witness of celestial drama taking place in a world of his own making. There is, too, an under-current of wit and a lot of sensual warmth in these figurative works made on a range of media from paper to metal.

Indeed if, as Indian aesthetics decrees, ananda be the aim of high art, then Ramachandran offers a veritable feast. On view till April 3.

-By S. Kalidas

PICTURE SPEAK

A work by Naiza Khan

-By Vanita Singh

PICTURE SPEAK

Still from Peut-etre

Le Prix du Pardon by Monsour Sora Wade from Senegal on March 18, an exhibition by artists from France and India, March 20-25, and a Francophonie Mela on March 25. At Alliance Francaise.

PICTURE SPEAK

Still from Malaamal Weekly

Here, at last, is a Priyadarshan movie that does not look like one. Yes, Sabu Cyril's designer rusticity is intact, so is favourite comedian Rawal. But the plot is somewhat original. It's the small matter of a Rs 1-crore lottery and everyone in the village ends up being a stakeholder in it. Along the way is a comedy of errors, a screeching banshee of a thakurain played by a bejewelled Sudha Chandran, a buffoonish Rawal, a bumbling Puri, a stealthily suspicious Arbaaz Khan and an insane Rajpal Yadav, who takes a break from being his recent irritating self and invents a pronounced forelock that he tends to with preening care.

There are many social comments disguised as humour-a village that pays for water it draws from the well, unemployed young men who do nothing but leer at women who pass by, and relatives who spring up the minute there is the suggestion of an inheritance. It's not exactly a lottery of laughs but Priyadarshan, all is forgiven. Even Kyun ki.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

Sufi Splendour, EMI, Rs 195

Kafi and ghazal are two forms of music that combine with the poetry of the Indus Valley. The Kafi is the most popular poetic and melodic mode of singing in Sindh and the Pakistani Punjab region. In the signing of Kafis, Pathaney Khan is legendary. He learnt music from Hafiz Nazar Hussain of Bahawalpur and was a great devotee of Khwaja Ghulam Farid. In this album, his husky and cultured voice is impressive. With every new Kafi he conveys a feeling of serenity to the listener. The sarangi as accompaniment touches the soul.

A must for all Sufi music lovers.

Sada-e-Sarhad, Music Today, Rs 195

Inheriting a legacy is not easy. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan felt it was a mountain before him to climb. Fortunately, he was personally groomed by the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. In this album, he sings three qawwalis-Tak tak rahwan, Akshian udeek diyan and Dus tu ki ae yaar. The influence of Nusrat is evident. The chorus is powerful and accompaniment equally gripping. Qawwalis are a fading genre because singers are not ready to put in years of practise. But Rahat spells hope in an arid desert where listeners eagerly await fresh new voices.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

KOLKATA Khoj Kolkata presents a folio of 20 serigraph prints at Akar Prakar. The artists include Suhas Roy, Sanat Kar, Paritosh Sen, Jogen Chowdhury and Chandra Bhattacharya, among others. Elegant drawings, worth a visit. From March 19 to 25.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Index