Gujarati theatre and cinema have long languished under the label of comedy that offers little in terms of meaningful messages. However, a new wave of theatre artistes, playwrights, and filmmakers are bringing about a revival, using the mediums to communicate messages of social change.
The world of Gujarati film and theatre is on the rise. Riding a new wave of enthusiasm, the people of Gujarat are watching more films, have more artistes, and are going to more plays than they have in over two decades. The elders talk about how they miss the old movies, but many are optimistic that a new era of Gujarati films is on the way.
Theatre and cinema have always existed in Gujarat—both, mainstream, commercial theatre, and parallel, experimental productions. The first full-length sound film
Narsinh Mehta was released in 1932. For many years after that, the Gujarati film industry was more or less static, rooted in storylines geared towards rural audiences. Between the 60s and 80s, producers and directors like Arun Bhatt and Ketan Mehta, among others, heralded what some people call “the golden age of Gujarati cinema”.
Over the last two or three decades, there has been a visible decline in quality, even though the quantity of films being made and released has increased. The Gujarat government had ambitious and well-meaning, but misdirected, policies to promote the industry, that allowed the release of many low-quality films.
With themes that rode upon superficiality and cheap humour that was often sexist, it was hardly comparable to Marathi, Bengali, Malayalam, and other regional cinemas and theatres of the day.
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Narsinh Mehta, the first full-length Gujarati film with sound. (Source: By Sagar Movi-tone [Public domain or Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons)[/caption]As veteran Gujarat theatre artiste Aditi Desai points out, “Gujarat has a culture of business. We get influenced easily by market forces. Doing theatre and cinema against the market force is incredibly tough.” Work culture is about tedious, tiring work,while films are a medium to release stress. “After the earthquake, there is an air of trying to forget about worries and just enjoy,” Aditi remarks. “Even the [colloquial] word
jalso, which used to
refer to a night of cultural entertainment, has, after 2001, come to mean a state of not being tense, of enjoyment.”
Desai has performed, written, and directed numerous plays in various theatre techniques, all connected by a fierce commitment to social equality. “My father was a communist. For a long time, he used theatre as a medium to raise awareness, and translated a lot of notable works. Through that he spread ideas of equality and democracy…In that time, very few women worked in theatre. Because of that, he wished that if he had a daughter, he would train her in theatre.”
Her values have been influenced by how she was brought up. “My parents were quite an unusual couple. My mom was a successful doctor who could have earned tons of money if she had a private clinic, and [unlike most] my father would be at home during the day. We all helped in the kitchen, cleaning the house, etc. All this was so natural that I didn’t know that there could be a different environment outside...Even with the theatre artistes who would hang out with us, there was no concept of someone excluded, someone higher and someone lower.”
To help spread these values in the theatre that her father helped her imbibe, Aditi founded the Jaswant Thaker Memorial Foundation (JTMF).
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Aditi Desai[/caption]
Along her journey as a playwright, she was influenced by theatre for the masses—forms of street and participatory theatre. One strong influence was Badal Sircar. “On stage, actors are on a higher level, and audience are on a lower level. Badal Sircar felt that there should be no distinction between audience and actors. We should remove the barrier between them so that they are on the same level. He came to conduct a workshop on this type of theatre in Ahmedabad. I attended that, and understood how to use actors’ bodies and voices.”
Desai dabbled a bit in television and radio as well, and through this became aware of how powerful theatre was as a tool for giving a voice and visibility to the unheard and invisible. “When I went to college, my professor, Dr. Ila Pathak, had an organisation called AWAG (Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group). When I was in the second year, there was a huge incident in Ahmedabad. A girl named Varsha Dixit was burned alive. Prof. Pathak told me to do a street play on that.”
The next day, she started work on the play, later titled
Stri-Savdhan. “Our first show was near Paldi bus stand. After the show, an old man came crying to me and told me that his daughter was abused a lot, and begged me to save her. I directed her to AWAG, where they have a support group, lawyers, a counselling centre, etc. That’s when I realised the power of theatre. For focused effort, we decided to rent a particular area behind Kochrab Ashram. We did plays, worked with the people, and tried to help them.”
Aditi was well-connected to NGOs that worked for marginalised and oppressed sections of society. As she did more plays and experimented with different forms of theatre – such as Theatre of the Oppressed – Desai was able to deeply touch all communities, including tribals,
adivasis, urban poor, and the middle class.
Many of these plays were in local dialects and languages, each different for different tribes and regions in Gujarat.
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Street play in Mumbai. Aditi Desai was deeply influenced by the power of theatre to connect with communities and convey messages. (Source: By GiveWell (GiveWell) [
CC BY 3.0],
via Wikimedia Commons)[/caption]She has also seen that people, especially in the current individualistic, fast-paced generation, are sometimes averse to depth, emotions, and social issues.
Because of this, and with her strong values from her childhood, her commitment to bring to life experimental theatre with a social impact became fierce, and with plays like
Kasturba,
Akoopar, and
Samudra Manthan, Desai was able to bridge the gap between experimental and commercial theatre.
She has faced struggles, with the popular market of cheap entertainment drawing crowds away from her productions.
Artistes from her foundation, JTMF, and Saumya Joshi’s Welcome Zindagi are able to do this, while institutions such as Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, Scrapyard, Gujarat Vidyapith, and others have been instrumental in taking experimental theatre to large audiences. “Many mainstream theatre artistes would sell their shows to a private club, perform for a private audience, and earn money through that. The only money that we get, however, is from the ticket box office.”
There is another box office story that needs to be spoken about. Abhishek Jain, one of the forerunners of the revival of the film industry, says that of the recent Gujarati film releases, those more connected to roots, to people’s childhoods, and to the feeling of familiarity, are what cinema-goers seem to flock to.
Films that try to mimic traditional Hollywood and Bollywood films are not popular.
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Abhishek Jain[/caption]
Along with Mikhil Musale and Nayan Jain, he started Cineman Productions. Abhishek has directed modern-day Gujarati films such as
Kevi Rite Jaish and
Bey Yaar. His third film,
Wrong Side Raju, released on September 9, 2016, in collaboration with Bollywood’s Phantom Films.
Abhishek, an Amdavadi, worked in Mumbai with Bollywood production houses before deciding that he had to help fill the gaping void in Gujarati films. He says, “With Cineman Productions, the idea was to make a production house that encourages talent, makes directors, creates productions out of raw talent, and then produces movies.”
Many, including Aditi, credit him with being a pioneer of change. Desai says, “Abhishek Jain has shifted the market. He is a visionary, has determination, and had the support of famous mentors.”
Jain himself is more humble, saying that the revival had to happen. “Every regional film industry has its cycle. Marathi films are doing great now, but they weren’t a couple of decades ago. If social media had existed back in the 70s and 80s, Gujarati films would have made a lasting mark on the film industry.”
He has worked hard and passionately to make his dream a reality. “I am an Amdavadi. Our elders taught us that stories come from our childhood, and our roots. So my stories came from my city, my Amdavad, my relatives, my friends, neighbours, everything. For me, it was very obvious that the set-up of my films had to be Gujarati.”
However, it wasn’t an easy decision. “When you are working with some of the biggest directors in Bollywood, you don’t think like that! But now I have conviction in it.”
Now, several Gujarati production houses have cropped up, and after
Kevi Rite Jaish, have made a number of modern and urban films.
In fact, after about a dozen hits in 2014-2015, box office collections jumped from ₹7 crore to ₹55 crore.
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Abhishek Jain’s breakout hit
Kevi Rite Jaish inspired a whole new wave of Gujarati filmmakers. (Source:
YouTube)[/caption]
These films have focused on many themes, including romance, coming of age, migration, LGBTQ rights, and more. Abhishek and many others have used the Gujarati’s hunger for comedy, the desire to connect to their childhood, and simple relatable themes to raise the quality of films and to cater to a larger audience.
The industry still faces resistance. Exhibitors and other stakeholders are still skeptical about the film industry in Gujarat, which is admittedly on a smaller scale than Hindi and English films, especially in non-comedic genres. But Abhishek is optimistic.
Amdavadis have always been an adaptable bunch, and love to experiment with food, dance, and films. Travelling and exposure is creating a shift from narrow business-mindedness to an open, experimental, and creative climate. There is a lack of institutions that help build creative talent. However, groups of artistes like Aditi and Abhishek are encouraging people to go out and explore.
Abhishek Jain and Aditi Desai believe that a film or a performance is about about engaging with emotions beyond fun. It is time more people experience theatre and cinema, connect to their roots better, and be more of a community. Thereby, they can understand other people, nature, and themselves.
“If you would like to support Gujarati theatre and cinema, please do see screenings and performances of plays. JTMF would appreciate it if you could help market, raise audiences, setup, and host stages,” signs off Aditi.
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Decorated village home in Patua Village of Nayagram, Pingala.[/caption]
Lac-turned woodcraft of Nirona Village, Kutch.[/caption]
A: We lived in Sundar Nagar in Himachal. Our house was on the side of the hill where no TV signals could come. So every Republic Day, which happens to be my birthday, my father would take me to a friend's house on the other side of the hill to watch the R-Day Parade. It was so grand and I felt really special.
A: I was in this huge office in Pune - a company called Kanbay - and it was a good company; lots of perks and nice colleagues. I remember seeing my seniors in the company - people who had joined it say 10 years ago - and I saw their lives. I figured this is who I will be 10 years on. Because a life in codes can be predicted easily. All of the seniors had a similar car, they dressed the same, their kids went to the same school - it all was somehow depressing for me. So I decided to find a way to get out of this.
The decision was not difficult because I knew that if I fail, I have a BTech degree to fall back on. Or I could write some exam and go do my higher studies. There was never any pressure of time.
A: I have no idea who I am out of these three. I guess am just a writer who chooses different mediums to explore writing. My favourite is still standup comedy because it gives me an instant, direct connection with the audience. There's no friction loss, reinterpretation of what I've written (through music or film lens/editing) - so the satisfaction is of a purer grade.
A: I think my writing is socially, politically charged not because of a conscious effort to bring that in but because it's part of my worldview, my politics. It's highly opinionated, influenced by the world we live in, and that's why sometimes I can be completely wrong too. But I feel any artist who has a mic or pen or brush or an instrument in today's times is required to document the turbulence through his/her art.
And sure, the idea is to reach more people and stay the same.
A: The inspiration for a film song is always the script. Sharat Katariya's script had that lovely moment and then Anu Malik gave a fantastic tune so my job became easier. My other favourite songs are - 'Kaala re' from Gangs of Wasseypur, 'Kaanpoora' from Katiyabaaz, and 'Aaj laagi' from Ankhon Dekhi.
A: I don't think comedy is about the positives. It's a sad truth and it makes comedians the villains for a majority of people ('Tum log kabhi taareef nahin kar sakte kya?'). Of course there are many positives in the country on a daily basis (The Better India reports them regularly and it's such a relief) but comedy is about pointing out the flaws. As a comedian, my only allegiance is to the joke. And all jokes, no matter how innocuous, have the potential to offend somebody. I will speak about the positives but not as a comedian.
Image source: 
Kavish Seth[/caption]
Chintamani[/caption]
“We belong to the fisherman community. My grandfather then my father and then me, we all wrote and performed on our own songs. Collaborating with Zubaan has given me audience other than the usual ones I was satisfied with. Moreover, there is so much to learn when you meet other artists from various states,” says Chintamani.
Sargaalaya is a unique tourist destination, a soothing experience for every visitor. 
Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, Dept. of Tourism, Govt. of Kerala and NABARD, SZCC, Thanjavur are supporting Sargaalaya for the Sargaalaya International Arts and Crafts Festival.
It is at Sargaalaya that Arun honed his skills. He participated in the Puthukotta-style terracotta workshop, which was organized at Sargaalaya during May 2015. Arun had the opportunity to experience the making and moulding of the unique terracotta sculptures.
Through such workshops and other training programmes, Arun got the necessary exposure to different techniques of Fired Clay Sculptures, detailed training on techniques involved in making Terracotta Crafts and he got opportunities to interact with senior artists and sculptors. His sculptures of birds, animals etc., are drawn from nature and are extremely realistic. Thanks to the dedicated team of Sargaalaya, raw material for all the 60+ artisans, including Arun is arranged by Sargaalaya and marketing is also taken care of by the organization.
Arun has been provided a separate stall with all facilities and given full freedom to pursue his craft. He is now earning around Rs.20,000 per month, and is also provided housing at Sargaalaya. The artisan is grateful to Sargaalaya for the opportunity.
The ideal combination of Sargaalaya and the artisans is a win-win situation for both. Sargaalaya provides the infrastructure, raw material, stay arrangements, training inputs, marketing platform and the artisans blissfully create their craft in a serene atmosphere. For the visitor, it is an amazing experience to witness first-hand the skill of such renowned artisans. Let us hope such initiatives are replicated elsewhere.
(Written by K.L Vinaya)
Julia Margaret Cameron. Photograph by Henry Herschel Hay Cameron.[/caption]
Born in a well-to-do family to Scottish father James Pattel, a British East India Company official, and French aristocrat mother Adeline de l’Etang, she was fluent in French, English and Hindi and often spoke in Hindi with her sisters. On her tour to South Africa with her family, she met two of the most important people of her life, her future husband Mr. Charles Hay Cameron, a jurist who had collaborated with Lord Macaualy on drafting Indian Penal Code as well worked on other law and education reforms in India, and her mentor Sir John Herschal.
"I began with no knowledge of the art," wrote Julia. Photography was then in its infancy, it was an arduous task for Cameron to deal with a bulky camera with a tripod, exposure that lasted for 3 to 8 minutes and handling hazardous chemicals like cyanide. But the Victorian photographer’s indomitable spirit made her surmount all odds of the beginner and transformed her into an artist with a unique style.
Camera lens which reputedly belonged to Julia Margaret Cameron[/caption]
She turned her coal house into a dark room and a glazed fowl house into a glass room. Within a few weeks, she rejoiced in the revelry of her first successful portrait, she was so happy that she searched the entire house for the choicest gift for the little model Annie Philpot. She practiced the wet collodion process and made egg-based contact prints from the glass negative. The erstwhile fowl house became her den where she arrested poet, prophets, painters and other luminaries, including her friends, family and neighbors, in front of her camera.
The pioneering photographer was also a prolific letter writer. Apart from others, she regularly corresponded with Sir John Herschel, who coined the term photography. He kept her abreast with the latest development in photography. She wrote in reverence to him “you were my first teacher and to you I owe the first experience and insights.” She partly named her youngest son Herschel after him, who also became a photographer.
Photographs taken by Julia. (L to R) Annie, Charles Darwin, Alfred Tennyson, John Frederick William Herschel[/caption]
Some of the distinguished people she photographed were the scientists Charles Darwin and Sir John Herschel; the poets Robert Browning, Henry Taylor, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Henry Longfellow; the painter G. F. Watts, Marianne North and Marie Spartali; and the historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle. Famous Shakespearian actress Ellen Terry, noted writer Annie Thackery and Alice Liddel, the muse of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland were also photographed by her. The famous American photographer, Imogen Cunningham, had commented "I'd like to see portrait photography go right back to Julia Margaret Cameron. I don't think there's anyone better."
A pre-Raphaelite aesthete with a quintessential Victorian soul, her images was seeped in biblical stories, literature, paintings and poetry. From St. Agnes to Sappho, Madonna to Merlin, Beatrice Cenci to Browning’s Sordello, Iago to Idylls of the King and others found a place in her oeuvre. She illustrated the Arthurian poem Idylls of the King when requested by her neighbor, Alfred Tennyson.
Photographs by Julia. (L to R) Henry Taylor, Robert Browning, Julia Jackson, Paul and Virginia[/caption]
Her romance with photography also resulted in marriage between a gentleman and one of her maid-cum-muses. According to Cameron’s account Mr. Cotton fell in love with her maid Mary Ryan after looking at one of her photographs. The premier Cotton College of Guwhati is named after him. She raised Mary Ryan, whom she found in an impoverished condition, along with five children of her own and five children of her relatives. A benevolent woman and generous hostess, while in India she served as a society hostess to the governor general Lord Hardinge, and many eminent friends were guests at her home, especially at Freshwater.
The famous author Virginia Woolf wrote her only play based on her great aunt Julia Margaret Cameron and her Freshwater circle titled ‘Freshwater.’ The house they lived in at Freshwater, named Dimbola Lodge after their coffee plantation estate in Ceylon, is now a museum permanently dedicated to life and works of Cameron.
The Victoria and Albert Museum celebrated her bicentenary and the 150 years of the only exhibition in her lifetime, to whose founding owner, Mr. Cole, she had sold her photographs. Apart from the photographs, The Royal Photography Society of London, still treasures a Jamin lens she used. Dr. M.Pritchard, Director General, RPS, rightly remarked, “She created a new aesthetic and was a female photographer who was successful role model for other women photographers and she inspired and influenced other women”.
Photographs by Julia. (L to R) Kate Keown and Elizabeth Keown, Mary Hillier, Whisper of the Muse, Ellen Terry[/caption]
In the ebb of her life, she, along with her husband, moved to Ceylon owing to financial and health issues. She photographed the natives but her overall engagement with photography declined. Probably as an artist she knew had accomplished a body of work that would stand the test of time. A fragment of her unfinished autobiography “Annals of the Glass House" mentions, “I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied." It was published posthumously. The seeker of beauty was snuffed to eternal silence on January 26, 1879, but the last word she whispered was “beautiful”. A word that often describes her work as a photographer.
(Written by Rajiv Runthala)
Clean and comfortable work environments will attract the youth.[/caption]
Workplaces that set a way of working! Artisans D’Angkor, Siem Reap, Cambodia.[/caption]
Displaying and marketing crafts through modern retail formats.[/caption]
All the effort will come to nought, however, if we don’t sell goods, and generate business for these capacities. We must participate in world-class retail formats and properties. Showcasing these products at malls, lifestyle stores, airports, and modern trade shows in India and abroad will make this sustainable. Many startups will seize these opportunities as they develop and create capacities in design, manufacturing, and marketing.
The Government just needs to be a true facilitator with measurable objectives across the value chain. It can help entrepreneurs bridge all requirements of Human Resources, Finance, Infrastructure, Regulatory Support, and Marketing frameworks. It can work, and it’s slowly happening.
Heart for Art Trust works with many arts & crafts across India, giving a marketing platform to the design and manufacturing capacities that have already been created across the country.
If you know artisans Heart for Art can support, please share details of the same via 
This is where I begin learning how to support the 
P. Rajagopal teaching children a new song.[/caption]
The organization’s philosophy is inspired by its founder P. Rajagopal. When P. Rajagopal was a child, he was taken out of academics to perform Kattaikkuttu. He traveled and performed with his family in all-night Kuttu theatre. Eventually, he became an outstanding performer well-known throughout the region.
While he enjoyed being a Kattaikkuttu performer, he was saddened that young children had to quit schooling in order to perform. He dreamt of creating a school where students could pursue academic education while learning the art of Kattaikkuttu. In 1987, he met researcher Dr. Hanne de Bruin, with whom he shared his vision of building a school. As their relationship blossomed, so did their plans for creating a school. They first started a school out of their home, and in 2004 began building the current school.
On seven acres of land, children receive daily instruction on skills that they build toward mastery, which they use to create group performances that are bigger than what they individually can do. The qualities of kindness, loving, and supporting others are outcomes of a holistic educational environment. Learning their crafts builds confidence in their abilities. The community aspect of theatre builds their sense of belonging.
What is my role here? As a Fellow, I mainly work alongside the junior staff, update the curriculum with English teachers from the U.K., and execute grant and NGO activities. I’ve learned that whatever being involved in development is, it requires abilities to work across professions. It means learning about the skills of others and trying to use their talents to accomplish things bigger than themselves.
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Cal Brackin[/caption]
The ambitious goals of the school require a high level of multi-tasking by everyone and working beyond one’s duties. At the end of each day, there is always more to be done. But I try to remind myself that it should not come at the cost of what matters most—being engaged in the lives of every child and staff member here.
Find out more about the Kattaikkuttu Sangam and how you can help 
Pyramid of Exiles, an installation at Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016
Founded by the Kochi-Biennale Foundation in collaboration with the Kerala Government, the four-month-long exhibition is spread across venues in Fort Kochi, Ernakulam and other parts of Muziris. The primary venues of the exhibition are Fort Kochi landmarks like Aspinwall House, Cabral Yard, Pepper House and Ernakulam’s Durbar Hall. But the exhibition extends beyond regular gallery spaces, with artworks showcased in old, abandoned warehouses, heritage buildings, cafes and public spaces.
In addition to the main venues, a number of collateral shows and events are organised in venues across Fort Kochi, turning the area into a massive one-of-its-kind exhibition space. The artworks on display encompass a variety of forms and genre, from paintings and sculptures to video installations and live performances.
Sculptures by Himmat Shah on display at Durbar Hall, Ernakulam
A collateral exhibition at Mandalay Hall
Contemporary dancer Padmini Chettur and her dance company perform Varnam
Refugee, a marble sculpture by Alex Seton
Gary Hill's multimedia artwork on display at Durbar Hall
A wooden sculpture by TV Santhosh
Victor Hazra's installation at a KMB collateral
Yuko Mohri's sonic-kinetic installation at Aspinwall House
Praneet Soi's coir sculptures at Pepper House
Elevating a derelict Anand Warehouse into a space for art
A video installation by AES+F
Sunil Padwal's exhibits on display at Aspinwall House
Ghost Keeping by István Csákány
An outdoor exhibit at Anand Warehouse, during KMB 2016
Martin Walde's Multiple Choice on display at Aspinwall House
Tears of the Taj Mahal, a calligraphic poem by Ouyang Jianghe
Yardena Kurulkar's Taphephobia on display at MAP Project Space
A 19th-century marble bust with further carving by Jonathan Owen
Images credit: Yudhajit Mitra
For more information on the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016, head to the official 
Ghatam Suresh Vaidyanathan during a performance.[/caption]
Ghatam Suresh Vaidyanathan with his favoured instrument.[/caption]
A Ghatam Suresh Vaidyanathan performance.[/caption]
Almost two decades later, Suresh believes he made the right choice. He says, “The younger generation look to me as someone who can guide them with just one performance.” At a recent performance, he was thrilled to see a band of young musicians who admired his work and waited to meet him after the show.
He says, “All this is possible only because I was able to work more on the technical side, and now I’m being celebrated as someone who has revolutionized ghatam techniques.” He credits his success to Vinayakram and his other guru, Narayanaswamy Iyer. Both his teachers had distinct styles which influenced his playing, and have helped to mould his skills.
Today, Suresh has his own students who are influenced by his unmistakable style. He says, proudly, “Now, when people hear them playing, they can say, ‘They’re following Ghatam Suresh.’ This is what I would call my humble achievement.”
Amitabha Singh[/caption]
A Film and Television Institute of India(FTII) pass out, Amitabha has been working as a cinematographer and producer in the industry for over a decade. Known for his work in Khosla ka Ghosla and The Good Road, Amitabha has worked on different children’s films like Chillar Party and his directorial venture Shortcut Safari.
Children at Cinevidya's film festival in Gujarat[/caption]
Poornima, whose specialisation lies in large murals and wall art, has been working with NGOs and projects for a long time. Her earliest interaction with the transgender community came when she began to help British documentary filmmaker Tabitha Breese on a movie about the community. Her friendship with many members of the community led her to conceptualise a project that would highlight their dilemmas and need for inclusion.
“I am an artist and it wasn’t a tough decision for me to bring art into the project forefront,” she says. “Art makes people more relaxed. We wanted people to feel free.” Combining her artistic acumen with activism, Poornima conceptualised an art project that would offer the community a platform for expression and interaction with society.
The Project brings together experts and art enthusiasts from the community to create large-scale murals, usually in public places. Their work is characterised by vibrant colours and an abstract quality. Since their first undertaking in Bengaluru in early 2016, the Project has travelled to Mumbai, Jaipur, Chennai and Sri Lanka, and their collaborators include the likes of St+Art and Humsafar Trust.
While Poornima manages community interactions, outreach and PR, design professional Sadhna Prasad heads the design division, conceptualising and executing the massive projects undertaken by the groups. “Our recent milestone was when two women from the community joined us — Priyanka who records the audio stories, and Shanthi a self-taught writer who manages our content.”
“They have never been given a chance before,” says Poornima, “but we have recognised some women who are exceptionally good at art.” As an artist, Poornima often employs trans women to work with her on professional projects and thinks that many of the women have the potential to become great artists. Any funds raised by the Project are divided equally among the members and a small portion is poured back into the activities.
Poornima’s hope now is to develop Aravani Art Project as a self-sustaining venture. As an art project, she is keen on grants and fellowships, but also hopes to attract the attention of corporate CSR and organise exhbitions. “We also want to do workshops in colleges. We would like to talk to college students about out work, and undertake wall painting projects together in one part of the campus,” she says.
Art is a therapeutic experience, and many trans women have discovered themselves anew via the project. The Aravani Art Project isn’t simply about empowering a community — it is about bringing them into the fold of mainstream society.
Check out the Aravani Art Page on 
Image source: By Sanjay Acharya (self-made at California, USA) [
Image source: Pixabay
Pressed flowers can be rearranged to create beautiful, three-dimensional works of art. Use a tweezer to place the delicate flowers on the page, along with some foliage, and use an adhesive to stick it firmly on the base. Pick cardboard or sturdy paper over plain sheets, which may not be able to take the weight of the flowers. Let it dry and frame it for your walls.
Image source: 
At its simplest, flower petals can be scattered in the bath for a feel-good shower. Apart from that, you can put your DIY skills to work and combine flowers and other ingredients to make natural soaps and bath bombs at home.
Image source: Pixabay
If you have accumulated a variety of dried flowers and have more than you can use, turn them into little decorative items for your home. Most of us have old glass bottles lying around—simply give them a good rinse-and-dry and fill it with neatly arranged layers of dried or pressed flowers. You can also add little pebbles and trinkets to spruce them up further.
Image source: 
A red bindi worn by married women signifies good marriage and virtue. It is an important symbol of Indian culture.[/caption]
Tikuli art originated in Patna over 800 years ago. It deals with beautifully designed paintings which are manufactured in the local streets of the city. With flourishing sales, the tikuli art-form managed to influence traders from across the country to flock to Patna to buy Tikuli art in bulk. The Mughals were active patrons of the art form, and appreciated its many salient features.
This is a rare specialty of Bihar, and no such work is found elsewhere. Since it is very intricate and detailed, it requires a special set of skills. Tikuli art is expensive too, as the value of the art is directly proportional to the refinement of the work.
The intricate craftsmanship made Tikuli art the sole privilege of the royalty.[/caption]
With the decline of the Mughal Empire, and the coming of the British Raj, Tikuli art faced a severe blow. The British introduced industrialization, and indigenous goods came to be replaced by cheap machine-made goods. Thousands of Tikuli artists were left jobless as machine-made bindis came into the market, and Tikuli art was lost in the chaos.
The revival of this art form can solely be attributed to two artists. In 1954, Chitracharya Padmashree Upendra Maharathi single-handedly took on the initiative of reviving this dying art form.
Mr. Ashok Kumar Biswas, the Tikuli craftsman who almost single-handedly revived the dying art form.[/caption]
Artist, craftsman, and painter Shree Ashok Kumar Biswas took Tikuli art to a whole new level. He, along with his wife Shibani Biswas, revived the art and developed it into a source of livelihood. Tikuli art now serves as an economic beneficiary for over 300 women in Bihar. The noble efforts of the Biswases and the workmanship of these women are nationally and internationally acclaimed. In 2012, Ashok was selected to participate in the Bihar Divas Celebrations organized in Delhi and Jaipur. He also explained the subtle art of Tikuli to the visitors of the International Fair held in Seoul.
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Tikuli art sold as a wall hanging.[/caption]
Making Tikuli art is a delicate and tedious process. Simply put, one can divide it into three steps:
Beautiful juxtaposition of Tikuli and Madhubani art.[/caption]
Spring and summer are the most suitable for making this art, as the craft requires dry air at room temperature due to usage of enamel paints. The artists use squirrel or sable hair to make the brushes, and the size range varies from 0.0-20.
Tikuli art, as a product, is more popular as an export, rather than as something of cultural significance. The aim of the products is to showcase Indian culture to the rest of the world. The themes mostly revolve around festivals of Bihar, Indian wedding scenes, and Krishna Leela.
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Coasters and wall hangings with beautiful Tikuli art on them are hugely popular exports.[/caption]
Abhishek Jain[/caption]
Along with Mikhil Musale and Nayan Jain, he started Cineman Productions. Abhishek has directed modern-day Gujarati films such as Kevi Rite Jaish and Bey Yaar. His third film, Wrong Side Raju, released on September 9, 2016, in collaboration with Bollywood’s Phantom Films.
Abhishek, an Amdavadi, worked in Mumbai with Bollywood production houses before deciding that he had to help fill the gaping void in Gujarati films. He says, “With Cineman Productions, the idea was to make a production house that encourages talent, makes directors, creates productions out of raw talent, and then produces movies.”
Many, including Aditi, credit him with being a pioneer of change. Desai says, “Abhishek Jain has shifted the market. He is a visionary, has determination, and had the support of famous mentors.”
Jain himself is more humble, saying that the revival had to happen. “Every regional film industry has its cycle. Marathi films are doing great now, but they weren’t a couple of decades ago. If social media had existed back in the 70s and 80s, Gujarati films would have made a lasting mark on the film industry.”
He has worked hard and passionately to make his dream a reality. “I am an Amdavadi. Our elders taught us that stories come from our childhood, and our roots. So my stories came from my city, my Amdavad, my relatives, my friends, neighbours, everything. For me, it was very obvious that the set-up of my films had to be Gujarati.”
However, it wasn’t an easy decision. “When you are working with some of the biggest directors in Bollywood, you don’t think like that! But now I have conviction in it.”
Now, several Gujarati production houses have cropped up, and after Kevi Rite Jaish, have made a number of modern and urban films.
Piyush Mishra[/caption]
Piyush – What do I say about my childhood! I was an introvert, very quiet and shy. Everyone would suppress me at school, at home. I didn’t get a good childhood.
Piyush – I would advise that do what you want to. It is your right to choose your profession, your passion. No one else will understand what makes you happy -not even your parents, your friends or any philosopher or guide.
Piyush Mishra with his elder son, Josh[/caption]
Photo source - Facebook
Piyush – They have already… my older son, Josh, is in first year of the Hotel Management course in IHM. The younger one, Jai is very small now. He is in class 6 but he loves to cook too. I am sure he is going to become a chef. They don’t like art and why should they. My father never liked art, but I did.
Piyush - I went to Bombay in 1989 but came back within a year to Delhi. I think that was the best decision I ever took. I didn’t know how to struggle and those days were different. I understood that even if Bombay was made for me, this was not the right time. I came back to Delhi and then started theatre, which did really well.
Photo Source - Instagram
Piyush – See, you have to first judge yourself if you are capable of doing it or not. You have to be your own mirror and see a clear reflection. We all come to Bombay and think that if given a chance we are no less than Amitabh Bachchan or Shahrukh Khan. But you have to first understand the thing that Amitabh or Shahrukh has and you don’t. And you need to work on that.
On the other hand, Phad Painting is an astonishing art form born and brought up in Rajasthan, India. It serves as a unique mobile temple depicting the glorious past of the state. Artists use Phad, meaning ‘fold’ in the local dialect, as a canvas, in the form of a large scroll.
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Workshops on Arabic Calligraphy (top) and Phad Paintings (below) conducted by Nazariya in New Delhi.[/caption]
To know the detailed schedule of Nazariya’s Arabic Calligraphy and Phad Painting workshops, and to register, visit the 
