KOCHI: In a recent Sotheby’s auction in New York, an untitled Damayanti by Raja Ravi Varma fetched a whooping Rs 11.9 crores, an event that marked how his works are still in high demand by connoisseurs. For many he is the ‘painter prince’ whose artistic journey was a smooth, hassle-free trip. But ‘Raja Ravi Varma, the father of Modern Indian Art, Venu Nair’s 59-minute docu-fiction gives you the other side of the story, a realistic take on the life and art of Ravi Varma. “It’s a trip through the personal and professional life of the artist. We know him as a celebrated artist, but we hardly have any idea about the adversities and hardships he faced. It’s a docu-fiction where we have recreated the key incidents in his life,” says Venu.
Books by Rupika Chawla, A Balakrishnan Nair, Kilimanoor Chandran and Nemam Pushparaj were used for reference, he adds.“Apart from Ayilyam Thirunal, he never received any help from royalty. Most of the other artists were jealous of his achievements and tried their level best to oust him from Tranvancore,” he says. Suresh Mutukulam, a mural artist, essays the role of Ravi Varma. “We wanted someone with maximum physical resemblance and Suresh was cast because of that,” he adds.
The film shows him as a true artist whose priority was always art. “He wanted his works to reach commoners rather than restricting them to upper class. He started a press for that purpose which broke him financially,” he says. Raja Ravi Varma was also the one who introduced the sari in southern parts of India through his paintings. “Be it Lakshmi or Saraswati, his goddesses wore sari when the concept was unheard of,” Venu says.
The docu-fiction also features the most controversial episode in his life, suicide of his model Sugandha. “It’s a fact-based work, so we have portrayed it based on available and verified documents. Sugandha was the model for Saraswathy and when people recognised her on streets it created a huge ruckus. They even filed a case against him alleging that the artist deceived the public by depicting his mistress as the goddess. The incident forced the model to commit suicide,” he says.
He calls ‘Raja Ravi Varma, the father of Modern Indian Art’ a true biopic of an artist who unified the Indian cultural scene through his works. “There has been a lot of new styles and techniques in the art scene over the years. But Raja Ravi Varma still remains a much respected, much valued artist,” he adds.