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Journalism of Courage
The Bookletwala family lived in a curiously-decorated hole the size of a dabba, behind south Mumbai8217;s Novelty cinema. The family engine kept going on two things: Their father8217;s obsession with the Song Synopsis Booklets SSB of Bollywood films, and a dream that they would one day morph from Bookletwalas to Beediwalas.
Which brings us to the curious interiors8212;a basic layout, except for the row upon row of lockers filled with dusty, dog-eared SSBs. Despite considering themselves the lords of refuse, over the years, the Bookletwalas made various attempts to sell the lot, but had few takers save a few Bollywood stars who wanted it for free. Finally, in 2000, the family found a sucker: Neville Tuli. The 41-year-old head of Mumbai-based Osian8217;s auction house bought 5,000 SSBs for Rs 10 lakh.
The first move is his archives8212;anything ever created under the Indian sun in the name of art, cinema, architecture or popular culture. It will eventually form the crux of his dream project: A university for the arts in Delhi he gets possession of the land in December. 8216;8216;Art has to be respected enough for people to know that if you become an artist, you will be able to pay your bills,8217;8217; says Tuli.
The second is a mutual fund for art. The fund, like private enterprises, will comprise of about 50 shareholders with a Rs 1 crore investment each, for whom the auction house will buy and sell pieces.
With 5,000 paintings in Osian8217;s private collection and a large repertoire of information, he certainly has the expertise. In their office on the sixth floor of a south Mumbai high-rise, tagged Durian ply drawers contain clippings on 500 frontline Indian artists; in the cupboards, there are catalogues and transparencies of every work they8217;ve ever produced.
It takes three more spots in Mumbai and one in Delhi to fit the rest of the 11-year-old archive. In temperature-controlled warehouses sit posters, LPs, show cards, lobby cards, prints, negatives and five more document types of film material. 8220;We8217;ll have everything on every Bollywood film, save for the first 1,300 silent movies,8221; says archivist Manilal Gala.
On July 5, Osian8217;s will exhibit parts of the cinema collection at Mumbai8217;s Jehangir Art Gallery and later at Delhi8217;s Lalit Kala Akademi; then comes a comprehensive website. 8216;8216;Anyone wanting to look up anything related to Indian art will be able check our database and cross-reference. For instance, if you run a check on Ravi Varma, every calendar, lithograph, poster and painting of his will turn up,8217;8217; says Osian8217;s Chandralekha Maitra.
Just under a decade ago, the England-born, Oxford educated pharmacist8217;s son was a compulsive gambler. For 18 years, he sustained a sometimes 16-hours-a-day gambling habit. But Tuli says he learned the ethics, aesthetics and economics of money from the addiction.
In 8217;95, Tuli moved to India, armed with a mildly sociopathic personality, a truckload of obstinacy and a wilful assurance of his destiny. In 2000, he set up the country8217;s only brick-and-mortar auction house on a borrowed capital of Rs 1.5 crore; it has since grown into a Rs 380 crore company. In February, Osian8217;s sold a VS Gaitonde for Rs 92 lakh8212;the highest price ever secured for an abstract Indian piece. In May, Tuli raced liquor baron Vijay Mallya for pieces from the Tipu Sultan collection at a Sotheby8217;s auction; he finally spent Rs 2.5 crore.
As for the fund, Tuli hopes it will eventually get the banks interested enough to take it en masse. 8216;8216;Some 200 million Indians will get into the habit of buying art, instead of putting money in stupid fixed deposits.8217;8217;
While funds and archives make for great boldface news, for sustained impact, he simply needs to be around longer. 8216;8216;At the moment, Neville8217;s multi-tasking,8217;8217; says artist Jitish Kallat. 8216;8216;Energy is fantastic, but it8217;s longevity that will decide the difference he can make.8217;8217;
Today, Tuli spends 17 hours a day, seven days a week, collecting, discussing, and thudding his head against the door, living and reliving a mantra: 8216;8216;Nothing, absolutely nothing, works like obsession.8217;8217;
