France to get a glimpse of Bollywood

He left his village of Garhi Brahamanan in Haryana to seek his fortune in Delhi as a painter of film posters.

Never would Ranjit Dahiya have imagined that one day he would be travelling across the seas to tell the history of Bollywood in a faraway land.

The denizens of France, a country that has produced some of the finest world cinema, will this year learn something different about the celluloid world when the history of Bollywood, like never before, unfolds before their eyes in a series of paintings made in typical Hindi film fashion.

In his studio in Paldi, NID graduate of the class of 2004, Ranjit Dahiya is busy painting huge posters of Bollywood movies, carefully selected from different eras.

Sponsored by the city council of La Rochelle in France, Dahiya will display his works at the 'History of Bollywood,' which will feature around 35 paintings, from July 2 to August 14.

"The French love Bollywood movies but very few of them would know anything about its history. This exhibition is a great opportunity to narrate it to them," says Dahiya with a broad smile.

After passing class 10, Dahiya had to white-wash walls and buildings to keep the wolf from the door. His eyes misty-eyed, Dahiya spoke about his first memorable painting. "One day while white-washing a school wall, I was asked by the principal to paint Goddess Saraswati (goddess of education) on a school wall." That painting proved to be the turning point in Dahiya's career.

The youngster learned the basic techniques of painting and typography from a distant relative and got involved in painting on walls and on vehicles, and then went to Delhi to work with painters who did posters for Bollywood movies.

Finding it impossible to pursue his studies from a regular school due to his work, Dahiya got admission to the National Open School and cleared his 12th standard.

His head full of dreams, Dahiya then gained admission in a Bachelor of Fine Arts course in Chandigarh Fine Arts College, and went on complete his masters in graphic design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Dahiya’s works are based on films from the golden age of Indian cinema, modern Indian cinema and the new millennium cinema.

The selection ranges from the first Indian full length motion picture 'Raja Harishchandra', the first full length talkie (with audio) film 'Alam Ara' and films like 'Mother India' and 'Don', to latest flicks like 'Dev D' and 'LSD'.

Amidst the excitement of his approaching exhibition, Dahiya is silently worried about the future of his art.  He is concerned that the painting of movie posters, which had been a part of the early careers of many eminent artists including MF Hussain, is withering away with the advent of the digital era.

But the possibility of the art having its own niche in the market in the days to come is what keeps Dahiya's hopes alive.