Amarjot Kaur
Like a window in the wall, 39-year-old artist Ranjit Dahiya’s murals of Bollywood stars, and their films’ posters, have been spelling the Bollywood cult and its evolution over the years.
Since 2012, he has been nurturing the Bollywood Art Project (BAP) and has created a 230-foot tall mural of Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic look from Deewaar in Bandra and late Shashi Kapoor’s 12-foot tall portrait at his studio.
As he prepares to paint a portrait of Smita Patil at his studio, a task that he undertook last Wednesday, he is reminded of her eternal beauty and grace. “She was 31 years old when she died. Today, it’s going to be 31 years since she died. I will take a few days to complete this one. I think she’s extraordinarily beautiful,” he says.
Calling it a creative outburst that defines the very core of his being and influences, Dahiya identifies with Bollywood not only because it is popular but also because he has been associated with it ever since his brush with the brush!
On the wall
Like a window in the wall, 39-year-old artist Ranjit Dahiya’s murals of Bollywood stars, and their films’ posters, have been spelling the Bollywood cult and its evolution over the years.
Since 2012, he has been nurturing the Bollywood Art Project (BAP) and has created a 230-foot tall mural of Amitabh Bachchan’s iconic look from Deewaar in Bandra and late Shashi Kapoor’s 12-foot tall portrait at his studio.
As he prepares to paint a portrait of Smita Patil at his studio, a task that he undertook last Wednesday, he is reminded of her eternal beauty and grace. “She was 31 years old when she died. Today, it’s going to be 31 years since she died. I will take a few days to complete this one. I think she’s extraordinarily beautiful,” he says.
Calling it a creative outburst that defines the very core of his being and influences, Dahiya identifies with Bollywood not only because it is popular but also because he has been associated with it ever since his brush with the brush!
On the wall
He peaked to success with poster making, and painting commercial ads on walls, rediscovering the era when ‘internet printouts on flex’ were neither an option, nor fashionable enough. “I was whitewashing at a school in Sonipat for Rs 40 a day, the principal demanded that Goddess Saraswati’s picture be painted on a wall. I volunteered for it, to make extra bucks. That’s when I realised I can paint. So, I ended up painting advertisements on boards and walls, and truck art too, back in 90s,” he says.
A graduated Chandigarh’s Government College of Arts, Dahiya did his masters in graphic design from National Institute of Design in Ahamdabad. “That’s also when I learnt English, by the way,” he adds. “I had the taste of Bollywood’s popularity in France, back in 2009. I met a France-based Indian artist in Mumbai’s Wall Art Project who landed me an exhibition and a show in La Rochelle. There, I met a girl who could barely speak in English, let alone Hindi, and she was singing Nimbuda Nimbuda Nimbuda..’ when she got to know about my nationality. I painted a mural of Sarkar Raj in Paris, In La Rochelle, I painted a mural of a residential area that was to be demolished after a year, and held an exhibition on ‘The History of Bollywood’ too.”
At present, Dahiya teaches at Balwant Sheth School of Architecture in Mumbai and he is planning to take his Bollywood Art Project further. “I painted Amitabh Bachchan’s look from Deewaar just before his birthday and this is one is the biggest murals in the country. It was sponsored by Zee,” he signs off.
amarjot@tribunemail.com
Resource :http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/life-style/painting-dreams-in-the-city-of-stars/515797.html
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