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Journalism of Courage
Mamjit Bawa, the eminent painter 8212; who believes that the 8216;art of painting is not an outcome of mere imagination, but an overflow of one8217;s vision8217; 8212; is now the subject of the camera eye.
The painter was in Calcutta recently to interact with Buddhadeb Dasgupta, the director of Uttara, the Golden Lion-winning film at the Venice film festival. Dasgupta has just embarked upon a documentary project designed as a tribute to Bawa8217;s work.
Bawa is one artist whose canvases are filled with folk and tribal motifs, work which seems to demand the 8216;call of the inner eye8217;. Besides these, his canvases feature animal figures 8212; in varied forms, shapes and colours.
For Buddhadeb Dasgupta, it is important to first get into the disposition and spirit of the painter and his work before beginning the journey in film. As he has observed himself, 8216;Whenever I find a subject, like painting, close to my heart and mind, I find myself getting ready for that. But it does not happen all the time and I refuse those projects then. These days I don8217;t want to busy myself with images that end up depressing me. I value my mysterious idleness when I don8217;t have to make a film.8217;
It is, therefore, a tribute to Bawa8217;s work that Buddadeb Dasgupta actually wishes to make a film on him. What is particularly fascinating about the artist is that his paintings never attempt to dupe the viewers, being straightforward and natural in their approach. Bawa himself believes that the art of painting has the power to generate responses even in those who are not acquainted with its mysterious magic.
According to the director, the film on Bawa would require a visit to Dalhousie in Uttaranchal where Manjit, as a painter, has created his best work so far. Delhi, too, has to figure in the film because that is the city in which Bawa spends a great deal of time.
For any painter, it is the series of images springing from reality that is decisive. The most ordinary slice of life or the most pedestrian of human figures can inspire the most lofty of images. Dasgupta8217;s documentary will then attempt to focus on Bawa8217;s vision that maintains that each art object or event is special in itself, in terms of form and content, theme and function, but it is only when it 8216;speaks or communicates through sensation and symbol8217; that it becomes art.
According to Dasgupta, 8216;Images always come from poetry, music and painting, apart from the zones of conscious and unconscious. But they must not be abandoned by the audience because they themselves have not experienced them in the same way. The exterior form of those images should look real and then slowly take a flight to extend the barrier of reality defined by society.8217;
