1 | The Eye

2 | The Eye

3 | The Eye

4 | The Eye

6. Up Close and Peronal: Nandita Das

8. A Run Through Folk Art Lane

10. Whats the deal with game designing?

18. Interviewing Indian contemporary

artists Reena Kallat

14. The Story of Rock ‘n Roll Through A 70mm Lens

A Note From The Editor

Its been 2 months and 4 issues and boy has it been fast!

Visual Art is the most dynamic and versatile of arts. It encompasses years

of human aesthetic evolution and packages it into something relatable,

something we can see. Everything is about images. Either the images in

front of us or those in our head. With Facebook buying Instagram its all

the more obvious how our interactions are becoming increasingly visual.

This makes it crucial to understand this world because it is slowly tran-

scending the strict sense or art galleries and entering our everyday life.

So this issue, we look into visual art that we have seen not as connoisseur

of art but as people who interact with on a more mundane basis. We get

up close and personal with Nandita Das (who we may remember from

Deepa Nair's Water), we explore the field of game designing, a run

through folk art we see on a daily basis but fail to recognize. All this and

more on this issue of The Eye!

The Eye

6 | The Eye

You come from a literary background, bagging masters in

Social work. How did acting happen?

I started like everybody else does in Delhi, theater. I at-

tended a lot of rallies, got down on the road protesting. I

never expected to make it so big, but yeah always had a

dream. I was sure that I didn’t want to do a certain kinds

of roles, and then I auditioned for Deepa’s Fire. And the

rest is history.

Your activism is evident in your film career as well – Fire,

Earth, water, Bawandar. Are you too good for plain old fun

cinema?

Of course not! Some of the art films are boring and preten-

tious and I don't want to do them as much as I don't want

to do a superficial mindless one the running around the

trees kind." While not a prolific actor by Bollywood stan-

dards ("I don't consider acting as a career, just an inter-

est."), Nandita has to her credit a few good trendy films as

well, such as Aks, Supari, and Bus Yun Hi.

When it comes to originality, creativity and a broad spec-

trum of themes, Hollywood seems to be lights years

ahead of Indian cinema. Does the industry really think

that the Indian masses cannot appreciate good cinema?

Absolutely not! I think that there are two parts to this ques-

tion. First, I disagree that Hollywood is light years ahead of

Indian cinema. Yes, there is a lot of space for independent

films here, but some of the Hollywood flicks are as trashy

and formulistic, even the big ones such as Mr. and Mrs.

Smith? it is so farfetched. What I would like to compare Bol-

lywood is with world cinema. Even smaller countries like

Poland and Iran, where there is a lot of suppression, even

they come out with great films. Their sensitivity, their cin-

ematic language [is superior]. Whereas we have so much

of literature, we have so much sensitivity. Technically also

in terms of cinematography we are very good. Then, what

is it that is going wrong? I have spoken to many of my film-

makers about this. I have also often asked myself, and to

be honest I haven't come up with any clear-cut answers.

Recently you became the chairperson of CFSI, what do

you think of the current state of children films in India?

I was so surprised to find out that not one film of the 250

that CFSI made has been commercially released so far. I do

hope that films like ‘I Am Kalam’, ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’ and

‘Chillar Party’ start a trend and are not just films that come

and go by. This genre is more of an ignored one. We are

not saying we are fighting big films. All we are saying is that

there is a space for these kinds of films too and there is a

need for them. Children do need films, which are fun and

convey messages in a subtle way. It’s about creating space

for these kinds of films. Only big starrers don’t have to be

promoted all the time. People want to see other stories as

well.

Being the chairperson for Children Film Society, what do

you think is the most critical issue for a child to be sensi-

tized about?

The mandate of Children’s Film Society, India is to produce

good children’s films that are both entertaining as well as

educative, and reach out to as many children as we can.

While we are operating in a fairly narrow space, we know

that films do impact on people’s mind and attitudes, espe-

cially that of children who are now growing up unfortu-

nately on regular mainstream films, or reality shows, or

often violent series that are aired on television. We have

no control on those influences, but we need to create an

alternative, an appetite for better and more appropriate

films. But, the most important thing for a child is to go to

school. This is the first step towards empowering children.

School is not only meant for studies. It has much to do with

childhood itself, to be able to grow with other children,

question, play, and blossom into adulthood.

What prompted your husband and you to launch your

own theatre production company?

We both enjoy experimentation and we do not fear failure.

Apart from that, I have always enjoyed acting on stage and

the live audience reaction. But contrary to popular belief

that I have done a lot of theatre, I have only been part of

two professional plays so far - THE SPIRIT OF ANNE FRANK

with Zohra Sehgal and Shabana Azmi and HEADS YA TAILS

with Sushant Singh. I did street plays for four years with

Safdar Hashmi, but the reasons were less for acting and

more for the issues his plays raised. Those plays in some

way were triggers for me to pursue my Masters in Social

Work.

Why did you opt to write the play in English? Doesn't that

limit your reach in India somewhat?

BETWEEN THE LINES is about urban, educated profession-

als who speak in English. Our play is for this audience, so it

had to be in English. It has to sound real to be communi-

cated; the language is just a tool. I wrote my directorial

debut film, Firaaq in four languages as the script demanded

it. So the language is true to its context.

What else is happening on the work front?

I have just finished a ten-minute experimental film Fleeting

Beauty in New Zealand. It depicts a relationship between

a white man and an Asian woman. Then I have a Tamil film

opposite Mammootty. And I am reading a few Hindi scripts.

Up, close and personal: Nandita Das Tanvi Hegde

7 | The Eye

“Acting is not about wearing

skimpy clothes”

8 | The Eye

Folk artists of India beautify the

objects of use and the sur-

roundings of their dwellings

like floor, wall, courtyard, Clothes,

etc. There are many kinds of folk

arts in India, like painting, sculpture,

toy, costume, utensils, furniture,

weaving etc. Almost every village of

India has its own style of folk arts.

Among these, some are very popu-

lar and well known, for example,

Kalamkari, Kolam, Madhubani, Ka-

lighat, Phulkari, Kantha and many

more. Kolam is floor decoration

while Phulkari and Kantha are em-

broidery on cloth. The artists use

the same motifs and designs gener-

ation after generation. The Phulkari

artists use geometrical design. The

Kolam painters prefer different ob-

jects from nature and Bengali

women like to use human and ani-

mal figures as motif on Kantha. .

These innovations are to be found in

the motif of Kantha design.

Bengal has a delightful folk tradition

of embroidery and quilting known

as Kantha. The Kanthas are made of

discarded sarees and dhoties. These

are sewn together to make it thick.

Kanthas are generally made by the

women of all classes in Bengal, par-

ticularly the old women. They use

their spare time to sew these Kan-

thas by coloured threads from the

border of old sarees and are

stitched along the border line and

the surface is filled with various de-

signs. Quilts, wedding mats, bags

and wraps for mirror and jewellery

were all quilted and embroidered.

Motifs and designs are taken from

rural landscapes, ritualistic activi-

ties/purposes (mandala), objects

from everyday life, rural festivals,

circus entertainers and even histor-

ical figures such as Queen Victoria

to Lenin. The motifs on these Kan-

thas make it clear that the folk

women were mostly illiterate but

had keen power of observation for

day-to-day happenings around

them. The enlisted Kantha is a saree

which is stitched in a typical tradi-

tional style and technique. The mo-

tifs are stylized forms of animals and

human figures. The base pink colour

of the saree is done in chain stitch

with various coloured threads like

white, green, purple, red, brown,

yellow, grey and black. A king like

figure is sitting on the horse with an

umbrella in his hand. Some stylized

forms of birds and bees are used as

motifs. The influence of Kalighat

Pata Chitra is very clear on these

motifs. The art has now become

very popular. A complete show was

dedicated on this work in Lakme

Fashion Week spring summer 2008.

Phulkari actually means “flowered

work”. This term is used for a type

of embroidery practiced by folk

women in Punjab. These are done

on both small and large cloth pieces

and these are used for different pur-

poses like veils to cover heads, gar-

ment pieces, chadar and

bedspreads or bed covers. The em-

broidery is worked in floss-silk upon

the coarse cotton cloth in darning

stitch over counted threads being

worked from the back of the fabric.

Basic motifs of Phulkari designs are

geometric. Squares and triangles

are composed all over the space,

which are covered with mainly

warm colours. There are simple de-

signs and large sized elaborate ones.

Squares, dashes, triangles and

straight lines and zig-zag lines from

endless innovative variation. The

predominant colour is the gold of

the ripening wheat harvest in Pun-

jab. The women will first pick up the

outline of each section with a nee-

dle before it is worked in a direction

that contrasts with the section adja-

cent to it. The combination of con-

trasting vertical and horizontal

stitches results in a beautiful pat-

tern. The enlisted work of Phulkari

is designed with traditional geomet-

rical shapes. Star forms are stitched

with golden yellow and silvery white

thread on red cloth. The basic motif

is consisted of a large star sur-

rounded with small stars to create a

diamond shaped space on the de-

sign. The silken shine of the thread

creates bright relief on the warmth

of the red surface of the cloth. Now

this art is again trying to grip its root

and the medium through which it

plans to do so is films. Recent movie

TERI MERI KAHANI of KUNAL KOHLI

has made Priyanka Chopra expose

this work. There is a era in the

movie in which you see her wearing

a fusion of Phulkari work.

A Run Through Folk Art LaneVaidehi Tendulkar

9 | The Eye

The reason to involve kolam is its on

the same line of Phulkari. Both have

set of geometrical designing en-

hancing the beauty of the art.

KOLAM Floor decoration is one of

the most popular forms of art in any

culture all over the world. This is

also to be found in every part of

India in different medium like Al-

pana, Rangoli, Kolam, Sanjhi etc.

Kolam is the most important part in

the cultural and religious festivals of

South India. During Pongal and

other festivals, this decorative art

work is done on the floor in front of

the house and on the space before

the alter of the deity. Kolam, like

other floor decorative arts of India,

is a symbol of fortune. Designs and

motifs are tradional in nature and

these are both floral and geometri-

cal forms. The floor should be wet

or moist by sprinkling water on it.

The dry coarse ground rice flour is

held between the thumb and fore-

fingers. The hands keep on moving

while the rice powder is rubbed to

release on the floor along the pre-

determined design. It is very impor-

tant to continue the drawing as long

as possible without any pause. This

fluency of line is achieved by the

artist only from experience. Young

girls learn this from their mother

and grandmother. Besides the sym-

bolic value of these motifs, it ex-

presses a very interesting meaning

of life also. Rice powder is readily

available. It seems to feed ants to

show one must take care of other

forms of life too. This Kolam is being

painted by a house wife. It shows

the freehand drawing skill of the

artist. There are different symbolic

forms like pitchers, lamps and co-

conut trees. All these are integral

parts of Indian rural life. These de-

signs are basically in geometrical

format and with very bright colours

like Red, Orange, Blue, Yellow and

Pink. India has inherited a pre-

Aryan culture which is reflected in

the folk art. Different religions, sects

and beliefs have co-existed through-

out Indian traditional life. Cults like

Tantra Shakti, Vaishnav, Buddhist

are very important in the life of folk

artists. The rural society’s needs for

art and craft objects are supplied by

the local artists and craftsmen who

are mainly of three types viz ritual-

istic, utilitarian and individualistic.

There are many kinds of ritualistic

folk art like Patachitra, Pichuai, Al-

pana, Kolam etc. Decorative wood

carving, embroidery, basket work,

earthen ware etc. are among the

typical utilitarian folk art. These are

made by rural artists without any

formal training, and most of these

designs are repeated by generation

after generation. For example, there

are hardly any changes in the motif

of terracotta toys. Those were also

made in Harappa five thousand

years before. Some folk artists at-

tempt to experiment with new

forms from time to time and create

an individualistic type of folk art.

These artists develop a new style

within the old format.

10 | The Eye

Please shed some light upon what game designing in-

volves and what the job of a game designer is.

Game designing is mainly related to designing the concept.

We design the rules and regulations of the game. Most

people confuse it with animation, but animation is another

section altogether. In game designing we do the abstract.

We are the brain and the animators function as the eyes.

We decide upon the story, universe, and key features in a

game. It also includes level designing. Being a level designer

is a job in itself. The level designers have to make sure that

all the levels are balanced. Recently I played Guild wars 2.

The story and graphics are brilliant; however, the game gets

repetitive, and therefore boring. This is where the job of a

level designer comes into play. You make the game pre-

dictable, the gamer’s reaction would become predictable

as well.

Understanding the psychology of the player is very impor-

tant for a game designer. A player earns an achievement

by doing a certain task in a game. This achievement keeps

him going. We have to be certain that the game doesn’t

turn boring at any point. Every time before deciding upon

the game mechanics, we must keep in mind the core target.

Mechanics and concept may vary according to the target

audience. E.g., Athletes prefer sports games; hardcore

gamers prefer games, which need a lot of time and atten-

tion. They play games which are challenging and hard to

crack. Casual gamers, on the other hand, are into simpler

games which only are played for some light fun. For some,

games are for momentary satisfaction, for a few others

they are stress busters and for a many others they are war!

Could you tell us a little about the institute that you are

studying from?

I am pursuing my Bachelor’s degree from DSK Supin-

fogame, Pune. It is a French institute collaborated with DSK.

They have 3 Schools – animation, game designing and in-

dustrial designing. Once I pass out I will get a Bachelor’s

Degree in Game Designing and Production Management.

The institute is extremely student oriented and they help

you enter the best places in gaming industry. I really enjoy

the subjects they offer. I am learning game designing, pro-

duction management programming and 2D and 3D Art.

They train us with recently updated and most used soft-

wares like Unity, Unreal Development Kit (UDK) 3DS Max

and Adobe Creative Suit. UDK is wonderful for level design-

ing and setting the environment of the game while Unity

works very well for programming. For easy programming

Construct 2 is one of the best used softwares.

What genre of video games do you think are most appeal-

ing to the youth these days? Do you think that hardcore

gamers play only violent games?

Platformer games with unique concept and good music at-

tracts and lot of gamers. Hardcore gamers, as I mention be-

fore, like games which trigger their senses. Most

challenging games are violent, but I have seen may hard-

core gamers play puzzle games or strategy games which

need a lot of logic and thinking. They even indulge in play-

ing horror games like Amnesia, Slender. In both these

games, there is no killing or bashing up. What they take is

a lot of sharp memory and complex logic. The challenge is

to advance the levels while not getting afraid of the horror

that strikes in the way. I couldn’t continue playing that

game for long and the reason I will leave for you to guess.

Which is your dream company to work with and why?

I would rather go Indie rather than working for any com-

pany. Indie developers mean Individual development com-

panies where 2-10 people come together and establish a

company of their own. It risky but you don’t have to work

under any company nor do you need to follow their boring

rules and schedules. You can develop any game you want.

Big companies develop games for mass audiences, hence

there I not much creativity involved. If your game becomes

successful then you are rich, and ultimately that’s where

everyone wants to get.

How much scope do you think you have to form an Indie

company in India?

Gaming industry is developing rapidly in India. But you

need to have something different. And you should be pre-

pared to invest a lot of time and money. You also need to

have a good team, a good concept, mechanics and a dash-

ing way to present it. It involves the same risks like any

other business.

Tejaswini Jogelkar shares with Mohita Namjoshi what game desgining is all about, where one may learn it

and what one can do after.

Whats the deal with Game Designing?

11 | The Eye

14 | The Eye

15 | The Eye

16 | The Eye

17 | The Eye

18 | The Eye

Interviewing Indian contemporary artists Reena Kallat Ojasvi Mishra

What have been major influences in your life and

art?

There are several artists whose works have impacted

my Art and my sensibilities towards art making at dif-

ferent stages that include Frida Kahlo, Rachel

Whiteread, Jenny Holzer, Mona Hatoum, Christian

Boltanski, while closer home in India the practices of

artists such as Nalini Malani, Vivan Sundaram, Arpita

Singh, interested me and informed my early years.

What achievement in your art career are you .most

proud of?

Although there is a lot to be achieved I’m not some-

one who’s easily satisfied, given the expectations I

have from myself. But to be a catalyst in realizing cer-

tain key works that have taken me a period of time to

develop, such as the series of “Synonyms” made using

rubberstamps, “Walls of the Womb” a series of tie and

dye silks or the sculptural installation titled “Saline”

made in bonded marble amongst others, has been ful-

filling.

Could you please tell the story of how your Synonym

(2007) came about? Why did you create it? How was

it made?

My interest in using rubberstamps as a medium grew

out of its use within official purposes and it’s associa-

tions with bureaucracy. I first started using them in

2003. I think of each name on the rubberstamp as

being representative of an individual amidst hundreds

of faceless people in this vast ocean of humanity. The

sources of reference for the names often provide

meaning or give context to the different bodies of

works made.

In case of the Synonyms I chanced upon the list of

names, out of official police records of those who’ve

gone missing in India, through a friend who was look-

ing for someone missing. The work stands like a screen

holding up portraits formed by several hundred names

of people rendered in scripts of over 14 Indian lan-

guages. From a distance they come together as por-

traits, but up-close they almost seem like a

circuit-board of rubberstamps. These are people who

seem to have slipped out of the radar of human com-

munication, thrown off the social safety net.

Making these works is a slow process but one that

throws up sometimes unexpected and startling re-

sults. I first draw out the silhouette of the portrait on

plywood, then arrange the wooden pieces that com-

prise the rubberstamps. After painting the portrait on

the uneven surface of the rubberstamps, the names

are pasted and inked. These pieces are then trans-

ferred onto the Plexiglas where some additions and

omissions lend the portrait its final character.

19 | The Eye