Lines of Thought

Caricatures of classical musicians made by artist Prabhakar Wairkar will be exhibited at this year's Sawai Gandharav Bhimsen Mahotsav.

Mumbai-based caricature artist and illustrator,Prabhakar Wairkar loves to listen to classical music as he sketches. Many interesting images feature in his huge collection of caricature art work. Late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s classic alaap pose,Ustad Bismillah Khan’s strained facial expressions as he plays the shehnai and Prabha Atre’s concentration as she recites a raaga,are all his inspiration. The award-winning artist is known for drawing on-the-spot caricatures of musicians as they perform.

The five-day 59th Sawai Gandharav Bhimsen Mahotsav is set to begin in the city from December 7,and Wairkar is preparing for his first exhibition at the classical music fest. Over 70 caricatures drawn by Wairkar will be displayed during the mahotsav. “I had never thought that one could mix caricature art and classical music. But now it feels good to capture these moments.”

For the exhibition,Wairkar has sketched 48 pictures by looking at photographs,while the rest are from his older collection. “The organisers wanted me to include some very senior musicians who I had never met,but were important figures in classical music industry. The exhibition is a tribute to classical music as a whole,” he says.

Wairkar has been sketching caricatures since 1992. “It was during an exhibition at Jehangir Art Gallery that I came across on-the-spot caricature art. Cartoonist Ranga surprised me when he made a caricature of mine in a matter of seconds. I was really impressed and wanted to do something similar,” says Wairkar. An alumnus of JJ School of Arts,Mumbai,Wairkar has worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for a number of print magazines and newspapers. “At that point of time,I used to freelance with 16 publications. Today,the art has found a lot of opportunities,what with almost every paper having a full-time illustrator.”

In 2002,Wairkar was featured in a documentary by Doordarshan,titled,Eminent Cartoonists of India .

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