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Gazing at Husain

Updated on: 07 August,2011 10:03 AM IST  | 
Dhamini Ratnam |

A new book on MF Husain by photojournalist Pradeep Chandra talks of the artist in the present tense. Sunday MiD DAY speaks to the author about the reverence for his lifelong muse that refuses to die

Gazing at Husain

A new book on MF Husain by photojournalist Pradeep Chandra talks of the artist in the present tense. Sunday MiD DAY speaks to the author about the reverence for his lifelong muse that refuses to die

Way back in 1992, Husain saab held an exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery. It was titled Shwetambari," says Pradeep Chandra, 61 year-old veteran photojournalist who has worked with publications like The Times of India, Illustrated Weekly and The Sunday Observer, among others. He reclines into his chair, sipping on his tea served in a cutting glass. "He was banned from the Jehangir for a few years after that."


Husain stands besides a photograph of Madhuri Dixit in this cleverly taken
shot in Pundole Art Gallery, during an exhibition that accompanied the
release of Gaja Gamini in 2000. "Husain chided me for making him stand
next to the photograph, but I reassured him that the shot would be great,"
says Chandra.


The exhibition did not contain any nudes -- or, to be technically correct, uncoloured lines -- of Hindu goddesses. Shwetambari or White in Superabundance, as the show was alternately titled, had lengths of white cloth draped from ceiling to floor. The floor was covered with newspapers, strewn like litter. Barely any space was available to walk on, so spectators had to step on the papers to view the drapes. But what really enraged the viewers who expected more, was that when Husain called a press conference to explain the show, he didn't show up.


The first car that Husain bought was this second-hand Fiat that now lies
abandoned in Husain ki Sarai, a museum opened by the artist in Faridabad.
"Husain painted this car and would drive around in it. It was the talk of
the town, back then," says Chandra
.

"He went to Juhu to have tea with Akbar Padamsee," says Chandra, chuckling softly to himself. Only an inveterate fan would find this amusing. Or someone with a highly evolved sense of irony. Or someone well versed with the Upanishads and an understanding of the concept of Neti, the formless, the shapeless, and the silence borne out of it.


One of the first Husain paintings that Chandra came across. "This one
is rare," says Chandra in his book, "since Husain hardly ever drew eyes."
u00a0

Chandra only testifies to being the first. Having followed Husain's works closely since the '80s, his association with the artist-- as a photojournalist -- goes back 34 years. And while this relationship never shifted form, it changed in its hue over the years. In his book, MF Husain, A Pictorial Tribute, Chandra offers an account of Husain's life, from his years as a child in Indore to his migration to Dubai, and later, Qatar. Ever the showman, Husain, by Chandra's account, loved to be photographed, perhaps as much as Chandra loved to photograph the artist.

"He'd often call me when he was doing something mundane," says Chandra. He recalls an instance when Husain called him to a salon in Colaba, where Husain had gone to have his haircut. The occasion? A meeting with actress Sushmita Sen, says Chandra. "He covered his forehead with his hair in the fashion of the day and asked me to take a photo, before the wind took its course and blew it out of order."

But the photojournalist, who wouldn't mind travelling for such assignments, knew it meant that he could photograph the artist any time, which is why, although the press was kept strictly out of the sets of Gaja Gamini -- the film that Husain made with Madhuri Dixit in 2000 -- Chandra sauntered in and clicked away within the first few weeks itself.

"Husain protested at first, but I told him that he couldn't stop me -- we were friends," says Chandra.
So, was he friends with MFu00a0 Husain, the 96 year-old artist who died in June this year, in London?
Chandra pauses and thinks. He's on his second glass of tea, and the reflection of the rain dripping on a window pane across him, makes patterns on his glasses. "Husain saab was a very caring man. He was whimsical, but he showed his love for his own, in very special ways."

After another pause, he adds, "Husain was aware of what he needed to do to attract people." And Chandra, like the rest who met Husain, found himself loving him the more for it. The book has been three years in the making, and Husain passed away after the book had been printed. The artist therefore, lives in the present tense of the book's words. And while that may irk readers, it would pay to hark Gulzar's end note in the book: "We cherish the past, everything gone by. Eventually, we start collecting their mementoes, gaze upon them, completely baffled, and bow down to them in utter reverence. This is what will transpire with Husain also. See for yourself."

This book bows in reverence to the artist, but it also offers a glimpse of the author who gazed so lovingly upon his subject. Perhaps for Chandra, Husain will always live on. MF Husain, A Pictorial Tribute, published by Niyogi Books for Rs 4,500, will be released by the end of the month.




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