HEADY BREW

Tiger Murugesh,with a cigarette dangling between his fingers,another tucked under his ear,eyes flirtatious Kaanan Bala,who is perched on the counter of Royal Fantacy Paan Centre.

Tiger Murugesh,with a cigarette dangling between his fingers,another tucked under his ear,eyes flirtatious Kaanan Bala,who is perched on the counter of Royal Fantacy Paan Centre. The shop is not a place where just hearts meet. This is where pop culture blends with Indian life. Its also where Gods and cinemathe two forces which,as artist Nilofer Suleman says,lie at the core of every Indian heartco-exist. The shop flaunts many posters of Hindi cinemas romantic couples while a framed image of Ram and Sita hangs amidst stacks of beedi,betel leaves and other paraphernalia.

This image,that has journeyed to Sulemans canvas from being a regular sight in Kundanahalli,Bangalore,is part of a posse of 15 paintings showcased at the ongoing show Sulemani Chai at Art Musings,Colaba. Given that Suleman is a cartographer and miniature artist,all the details of this quirky slice of an urban village are duly translated on the canvas.

For the 46-year-old artist,inspiration brews next door. Living close to hallis (Bangalores equivalent of wadis) for years has acquainted this artist with the details of their idiosyncratic life. The imprints of this gives each of the paintings a story about a world every Indian is familiar with,but with a contemporary touch. The main protagonists are the eternally stunned and naïve Chinnamma and Jayaram while others like lecherous Tiger Murugesh,Kaanan Bala and the rogue Josi Kutti. I have introduced15 characters who play different roles, says the Bangalore-based artist. All have wide-set eyes,unibrows and wear colourful flip-flops and flowery clothes.

The artists paintings,acrylic on canvas,make unabashed use of myriad of colours to depict a life thats vibrant and bursting with life thats so typically Indian. We Indians are vibrant by nature. Since we grow up with it,we dont realise that its anything out of the ordinary, says the Bangalore-based artist. That also appeals to the foreigners and NRIs,who have purchased her earlier works.

Though she has been painting the halli life for nearly seven years,this is the first time she is showing a series of these paintings together. This also happens to be her first solo show in Mumbai. With hallis as my subject,I have found my niche, she says. In the years to come,she promises to expose art aficionados to more of Tiger Murugesh and his ilks antics.

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