In Love,Forever

There was a roaring,charging sound of a train speeding towards the platform.

There was a roaring,charging sound of a train speeding towards the platform. Out on the streets,amid the market chaos,a couple of men hollered crass nothings at each other. The quintessential chaiwala walked around with a small tea-rack,tapping the glass with a stick,leaving the aroma in the air. It was this regular din of Indian sounds that made Spanish filmmaker Isabel Herguera capture multiple aspects of India in her notebooks over a period of five years. What emerged out of those sketches and collages was an 8-minute animation film,a travelogue of sorts,and she named it Amar,a character in the film.

Herguera took five years to finish the film that released in 2010 in Spain. But the film has managed to come to India this year,along with an exhibition of her notes,sketches,drawings and sounds. The exhibition titled Cuadernos de Viaje (Travelogue),is on at Instituto Cervantes.

The story is about Ines,who comes to the walled city to meet her friend,Amar,who is in a mental institute. What transpires is a violently colourful picture of familiar sights and sounds of all things Indian. Amar in Spanish means to love and in Hindi it means forever. It is a great coincidence that together it means infinite love,hence the title, said Herguera about the film that won an award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival earlier this year.

There are trucks with a cheeky Thoda Muskuraiye on the bumper,an occasionally overheard Bhayankar, and a dancing figurine of Indian goddess Kali during the festivities on the streets. The story is mixed with impressions and discoveries and travelling in India, said Herguera,who has been visiting India since 2005 and has stayed in Goa,Delhi,Rajasthan,Benaras and Srinagar for long durations.

At the exhibition,gigantic and violently colourful sketches of figures,photographs,notes and buildings have been put up on walls. On one,the scene of Imes,a black figure wearing red clothes,meeting with Amar a puny,balding figure,at the mental institute runs vividly.

Herguera is unconventionally superstitious about her future projects in India. You know what they say if you talk too early about your projects. I’m suspicious of the evil eye, she laughed.

The exibition is on at Insituto Cervantes,till November 19. Entry is free. Contact: 43681900

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