KOZHIKODE: Well-known poster designer and artist P Sharath Chandran died at the age of 79 at his home near Eranjipalam in Kozhikode on Friday. Sharath Chandran, who drew photo-realistic images, shot to fame after he designed the posters for Richard Attenborough’s acclaimed movie ‘Gandhi’ released in the year 1982. A native of Thalassery, Sharath Chandran’s life was heavily influenced by artist C V Balan Nair at the Kerala School of Arts in Thalassery where he learnt fine arts.
After completing the course, he went to then Bombay and worked as an illustrator. In the 1960s, Sharath designed the poster for Golden Tobacco Company and had worked as the company’s art director for 12 years. He had designed close to 800 cigarette covers for the company. During his stint at Golden Tobacco Company, Sharath Chandran got the offer to design for the movie ‘Gandhi’ through his friend Shantha Kumar of Source Marketing Agency.
Sharath’s design of a child wailing near the mortal remains of his mother during the Jallianwala Bagh massacre received a lot of appreciation, among the other posters he designed for the film. He then went on to set up his own advertising company named Orbit and designed posters for thousands of products. Unfortunately, the original posters he had made for ‘Gandhi’ were lost when rainwater seeped through the roof of his house years later.
Sharath Chandran travelled across the length and breadth of the country and the scenes he had seen became the favourite subjects for his paintings. He excelled in all mediums and his paintings were as realistic as a photograph.
A recipient of the vintage car design award instituted by Philip Morris International at the global level, Sharath Chandran was also conferred with the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi award in 2014. Sharath Chandran is survived by wife Vimala (retired from Western Railway), son Adithya (Mauritius) and daughter-in-law Priya. His mortal remains were cremated at Mavoor road crematorium on Friday evening. ‘Gandhi’ won the academy award for best picture in 1983.
800 CIGAR COVERS FOR GOLDEN TOBACCO!
Sharath Chandran designed the poster for Golden Tobacco Company and also worked as the art director of the company for 12 years in then Bombay. He had designed close to 800 cigarette covers for the company