Fun(ny) on the pitch

The exhibition,to be held till today at Balgandharva Rang Mandir,has 50 caricatures of famous personalities. This isn’t the first time that the sports stars are being sketched by Pawar. His ‘cricketer cartoons’ have found space on calendars,some have been part of different exhibitions,and have also made for creative gifts for celebrities like Nana Patekar,Shammi Kapoor,Piyush Pandey and others. “Drawing has always been my hobby. I just happened to participate in a caricature competition and after a few years,I was winning awards,” says Pawar,who is an architect by profession. His interest in the world of paints and colours goes back to when he was in Std IX. “In school,I would sketch on the back of notebooks,” he remembers. He continued honing his skill and finally,after winning a national level caricature painting competition,he exhibited his first set of work in 1997,followed by another display in 2002.

“I have actually worked very sporadically. I started in 1992 and it took me a month to get the hang of caricature art. Though I was always interested in sketching portraits,I needed to work on the art and focus more on it,” he says. His current exhibition will have 25 new creations,featuring celebrities like US President Obama,Rahul Gandhi,Shah Rukh Khan,Salman Khan,Aamir Khan,Amitabh Bachchan,Ranbir Kapoor,Kareena Kapoor,and the like. Using pencil colours as his medium,the artist takes around 4-5 hours to finish one caricature. “The rendition and detailing require a considerable amount of time. The basic lines are completed within 20 minutes,” he says.

Ask him about the nine-year gap between his last and current exhibition and he explains,“With no set target,one can’t get any work done. I got so involved with my professional work that art took a backseat.” Now,however,he is determined to pursue the art with more regularity and the city will see his works more often.