Dec 5, 2009

Indira, Rajeev, Sanjay Gandhi with Dara Singh


But who is the boy on the far right - next to Dara Singh?


Nov 26, 2009

Bhagwan - Bholi Surat Dil Ke Khote


A sorry cover of The Illustrated Weekly on India in 1990 - the year of the weekly's demise after 112 years. The top left picture is that of Bhagwan.

Bhagwan, following on suggestion by Raj Kapoor made a film called Albela - staring himself and Geeta Bali. The film had music by C Ramachandra. The songs are still popular and the dance step used by Bhagwan was so popular that it became the default dance step of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Bhagwan did try to duplicate the success of the movie with the same cast, but failed two times - the movies were called Jhamela and La'Bela.

He fell on really bad times. He had to sell his bungalow and cars and move to a chawl. Most of his associates left him in his time of need - except for C Ramchandra, Om Prakash, and Rajinder Krishan who used to pay him visit in his chawl apartment. Sadly, Bhagwan outlived them and died a sad man in 2002 at the age of 89.

Mario Miranda's Mumbai



Mario Miranda is a native of Goa, but he spent time working in Mumbai and capturing city's spirit. He depicted citizens of the city as bug-eyed cosmopolitan community suffering under lazy, ignorant, and self absorbed politicians. He packed people very closely with traffic, shops, and stray dogs. Policeman with protruding tummy and chicken legs, crying babies, pickpocket - the whole Mumbai on a page for you. Then there was a buxom secretary Miss Fonseca, office clerk Godbole (Marathi Manoos) who was bullied by his boss, and a film actress Rajni Nimbupani. They all shared the potholed roads - just like the Mumbai we know.


Mario does not have a formal training in art, but his natural talent saw him freelancing as a cartoonist and illustrator while he was an undergraduate in St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. He got his first break with The Illustrated Weekly of India when it printed few of his cartoons. Then came the rejection when The Times of India rejected his work the first time. However, the paper began to give him assignments a year later. In 1959, he went to Lisbon, and was awarded the Gulbentuan Scholarship. He worked in London for a couple of years, even washing dishes to tide over tough times. After that was a stint in the US, working with Charles Shultz, of ‘Peanuts'. Then it was back to India, sketching for The Times and its sister publications.

He received Padmabhushan in 2002.