Radio Ceylon Paintings: Vol. I : Atul Dodiya

Atul Dodiya’s ‘Radio Ceylon Paintings: Vol. I’ appears to be a nostalgic tribute, where he paints portraits of a galaxy of well-known (and many unknown maestros) of the Hindi film music world of the 40s, 50s and 60s. Remembering the film songs that he heard over the transistor radio through his youth and still returns to everyday in his studio, where he paints a range of subjects in various media as diverse as shutter paintings and oil paintings; here, he paints a homage to Indian film music.

In this body of work, he lingers over faces. Specific faces - of lyricists, music composers, playback singers, arrangers, classical maestros that worked in the golden era of Hindi film music and enriched it. They are rendered with the dexterity of an artist who studied at the academic Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai; but who dreams and breathes paintings from all over. He needed to bring in the likeness of the personage - part homage, part orchestrating the application of paint where it remains as glow, skin, texture or a powerful human presence.

An important impulse that kept him going in painting head after head, was the realization that these are creative people who built an amazing body of work that was loved by millions. These people were a community of Indians, of an India which sadly isn’t, anymore. The names, always worshipped, read: Mohammed Rafi, Suraiya, Shamshad Begum, Talat Mahmood, Sajjad Hussain, Naushad, Shakeel Badayuni, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi, Sahir Ludhianvi; and the list goes on. Muslims were an important part of this industry. They were not singled out as outsiders or bullied to prove their patriotism. This was secularism in action. The listeners of this music, spontaneously and truly, expressed their pleasure in these songs and a love for the makers. Atul wants to do that, all over again, spotlighting their humanity and erasing the differences that have crept up in our current political climate.

The diversity of the names, the range of personalities, their facial features, their gazes, their expressions create a citizens’ gallery. This exhibition honours a list of stalwarts, but also mirrors who we are, and where we came from.