Glamorous patterns

“I have been learning the art of rangoli-making since 2006 from Jagdish Chavan. However,my father trained me in painting when I was just a child. He is the source of my inspiration. I ventured into the art of rangoli to create something new and fresh,” says Dhanushri,a 23-year-old commerce graduate.

Seventeen-year-old Shambhavi says that the exhibition,which concluded on Sunday,was their effort to go beyond the traditional. “Rangoli is often associated with traditional designs. People cannot think beyond conventional patterns. Moreover,most of us are not aware of the fact that portraits can be made out of rangoli. We wanted to break this stereotypical image of rangoli and thus thought of juxtaposing our skills of painting and rangoli making to create a new form of art,” she smiles.

Portraits of 15 Bollywood actors were showcased,including Nutan,Madhubala,Waheeda Rehman,Dev Anand,Mumtaz,Nargis,Raj Kapoor,Sharmila Tagore,Mala Sinha,Amitabh Bachchan,Jaya Bachchan,Dilip Kumar,Rajesh Khanna,Saira Bano and Rekha. “The exhibition was our tribute to the legendary actors of the 60s and 70s. Their beauty,charm,expressions and exquisiteness are worth capturing and working for,” says Shambhavi.

The rangolis were made of a special type of colour known as ‘Lec’. Regular colours are mixed with Lec in different ratios to create different shades. The portraits of Bollywood stalwarts in the exhibition were mostly done in textures of black,white and grey; however,a couple of portraits were done in colourful formats. For instance,Rekha’s portrait had several bright colours so as to give it a feel of Umrao Jaan. There was one portrait that was done in sepia – the portrait of Mala Sinha,and it was undoubtedly splendid.

When asked about their favourite portraits,the young artists found it difficult to choose one. However,Dhanushri claimed to have an extra fondness for Sharmila Tagore’s portrait,whereas Mudgal’s personal favourite was Dilip Kumar’s.