CHENNAI : A sketchbook, a pen, and the urge to draw the moving images of the streets of Paris and freeze them in time — these were the assets of artist and film production designer Thota Tharrani almost five decades ago.
When the walls of the gallery at Alliance Française were adorned with his Paris collection, which included 69 black and white sketches of the city, it gave a glimpse into what the artist saw and captured life then. Today, the artist is also a storyteller who is walking around patiently observing his paintings and sitting down to have conversations with people around him.
Mapping memories
The drawings were created in one year when the artist was doing his fellowship in printmaking sponsored by the Government of France in 1971. “There were almost 1,400 drawings. Looking back, I cannot imagine these many were drawn,” exclaims Tharrani. Many drawings faded and corroded over time because of the ink and the exposure to sunlight. Observing the frames, he shares, “I have only 69 now. These sketches will also fade away someday. So the best thing is to take a high-quality, digital copy and print it on photography paper.”
During his stay there, Tharrani continued to develop a style. “Initially, I was a bit nervous but continued to paint daily. While travelling through the city, I wanted to take notes and later paint. Since I didn’t have a camera to capture the moments that were speeding away, I thought that sketching it quickly would be the easiest way to remember,” he says. The artist then adjusted the thickness and perfected the drawings during the one-hour-long lunch break. He remembers how his classmates would eagerly wait every day to see what he was creating.
The sketches included the busy streets, cafes along the roads, churches, and so on. The speed with which the artist mindfully mapped the places, he credits the background artists who worked in the art sector 50 years ago. “I started doing freehand drawings from the age of four. And then from the age of 10 or so, I started helping out my father who was also an artist. In the movies, when they require props like doors and entrances or design any other elements, the background artists take notes as line drawings very fast. A few days later, you will see the finished work. They will close their eyes and draw it. They are masters. Today, we cannot find them. I started thinking of the artists, observed how fast they are doing it, what angle they take, and gradually the skill got into me,” he shares, adding that he dedicates the whole collection to those artists.
The art and the artist
Yaacov Agam, an Israeli sculptor once said, “There are two distinct languages. There is the verbal, which separates people… and there is the visual that is understood by everybody.” Expressing the same sentiment Tharrani adds that the painting should be simple and understood by the common man. He adds, “You shouldn’t waste your time and talk about the philosophy behind a painting. Everything is just in that painting.” Thus, taking his paintings to the people was important.
The septuagenarian artist recollects what it took to conduct an exhibition decades ago. “In France, for one exhibitions, I had to clean the whole room. I had to bring the ladder and climb and stick the paintings with glue, all by myself. When an opportunity was presented to me, I would take all the paintings by myself and catch a bus or something to the venue,” he says, adding that he lost most of the paintings because of exhibiting them under the sunlight, as it didn’t have a protective layer on it.
The three-day exhibition was hosted by the Indian Institute of Interior Designers (IIID) - Chennai Regional Chapter. Shilpa Darshan Kumar, CEO of Arquonz Global at IIT and organiser of the event along with IIID, says, “We wanted to connect with the public and also the interior designing fraternity and see how we can take it to houses.” The drawings are available for sale but the price isn’t fixed yet. Tharrani shares, “I haven’t decided on the price yet because it is expensive — the printing, framing, everything. I just have three editions. I can provide one more copy if somebody needs it.”
The Padma Shri recipient who has added his Midas touch to movies like Indian, Sivaji, and the very recent Ponniyin Selvan, advises the audience to not compare his film work and art, as they are different. As an artist, he focuses on a specific subject and continues to make a s ries out of it, then experiments.
Art is life and life is art, that’s what Thota Tharrani has sketched and even tattooed into the deepest corners of his heart, for the artist continues to breathe life through his drawings.