If the reality that is boredom can be portrayed in black-and-white images, then wistful fantasies can find expression only in bright colours. This routine-versus-romance is the key to the kaleidoscopic beauty of ‘Printed Rainbow’ at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
As the pioneering art festival got a four-day extension from Thursday, the short film being shown at two venues has earned a fresh lease of life - much like the artwork’s main character. She is an old woman who, along with her cat, seeks to constantly escape from her city apartment onto a self-imagined world of natural greenery and exotica - through matchbox covers.
Strikingly, the 15-minute animation movie by Gitanjali Rao, which was premiered in 2006 at Cannes where it won three awards including for the best short film, is a story told without words. At the biennale ending on March 17, the installation is showcased at two key Fort Kochi venues: the Aspinwall House and the Pepper House.
“I painted the entire film. Frame by frame. Over three years,” says the 40-year-old Mumbaikar, who is as a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sir J J Institute of Applied Art in her city. “It is a labour of love dedicated to my mother and her cat.”
The film shows the average city dweller’s longing to get out of the dull life confined to the four walls of the flat perched above a high-rise building round a cross-road that bustles with vehicles of all kind.
The bespectacled protagonist in a puffy housecoat has a docile cat - and, besides that, a lone friend who is a human being: an old and all-grey neighbourhood man who turns up at her drawing-room with his quiet dog. He gifts her matchboxes which the lady stocks in her bedroom, where she has this habit of occasionally opening the rack to leisurely view them.
The opening moments are themselves captivating. It rains one morning, washing down the city’s white buildings - as if they can’t gain colour from even the dust accumulated over time.
Such subtle humour is typical throughout the film.
As a self-taught filmmaker besides being a theatre artist, Rao has independently produced, directed and animated another short movie titled Orange. Credited with a string of popular, award-winning animated commercials, she also conducts workshops, gives presentations and has been in the jury of various international film festivals.