Sunday, July 22, 2012

Nawazuddin Siddiqui

I remember watching Peepli Live two years back in which the role of a small town reporter Rakesh really impressed me. That character was played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He had been around for quite some time doing small roles but went unnoticed till Peepli Live. Then came Paan Singh Tomar and this time I spotted him on the screen quickly as Rakesh. But, his real name came into existence for me only after Kahaani. As Inspector Khan he was impeccable. His shrewdness and arrogance can be seen in his eyes when he shouted at the subordinates in the police station. This lean and lanky actor has much guts packed as an actor. 
Then came Gangs of Wasseypur-I and one could tell that Faizal Khan is made for a bigger appetite of screen space. He had a childhood coupled with a scarred night to cling on. And when he goes on to his first task to Benaras, the soundtrack 'bhaiyaa' just says it all. Here I will take a moment to applaud the music of Sneha Khanwalkar. Gangs of Wasseypur's music is not about songs stuffed to merely entertain the audience. It supports the plot and also helps create the environment of the dark, dingy and folksy landscape of Wasseypur. The music has been churned out of street kids reciting poems, Durga (a 12 year old kid) singing in locals, hints of bhajan keertan instruments, bit of chutney music, beating of hammer on iron rods etc. I can go on picking each sound and building parallels to it. Anyway, getting back to Nawaz's character as Faizal Khan, I have to say that each scene laid the platform for Faizal Khan to take the final lead. Har phool khushboodaar nahi hota, paraaye apne hote hai jab paise paas hote hai are lyrics that are talking of his turmoil ready to vent out. He also has a beautiful chemistry going on with pretty Huma Qureshi as Mohsina. Again thanks to Sneha Khanwalkar, I am finding it difficult for me to stop building my ideas of the sequel from the song 'kaala rey'
It satisfies me to see Nawaz casted as the main character here. This actor deserves it. He has been around, knocking on the door with seasoned performances and now the time is ripe to see him grow further through Gangs of Wasseypur. As a fan of Nawaz, I dedicate this poster to him I made for Gangs of Wasseypur.   

 Process - 


High Resolution version of the poster is available on demand. Anyone up for buying it?

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Mansapur

Mansapur is my nani's place (hometown of grandparents from maternal side) in Bihar. It is situated near the borders of Nepal and is close to Sehersa town. A couple of weeks back I packed my bags for Mansapur. The last time I had gone there was thirteen years back. I was in my seventh standard then and now I am out of college. A decade and more is a good amount of time for things and landscapes to change and I have a very vivid memory of my spent summer vacations here. It's like a map that has been preserved well in the shelves of my memory and as soon as I reached there, I unfolded that map and started checking the mango tree under which we sat protecting the mangoes from the thieves, the well in front of the house, the canal in which I used to play with my cousin and brother, the shelter for cows, the guava tree, the room with sitar, tabla and harmonium and many more fragments of this map. But the one thing I was really eager to see was my dad's Yezdi. I found it parked in the backyard and covered under plastic sheet. I uncovered it and stayed there looking at that old silver coloured bike. It still had the sidebox attached to it and the number plates still said 'Kumar'. 






Soaked with nostalgia I decided to draw the bike. Later I moved onto meeting the relatives and gorging down the simple food with mangoes as dessert. The many generations of the family are very tightly knit to each other and one can't escape making a visit to them. Even after thirteen years there were a few faces that didn't require an introduction. One of them was Dukha Mama and his wife.


Front facing side of the house

Backyard






There were many whom I would have loved to draw but once you have entered one house you can't leave without eating. Hence, a lot of food was consumed that resulted in hours of long sleep. The slow breeze and humid air helped very well in making the sleep thick.




The few days just passed away in a glimpse of re-brushing the fossils of past but it felt good to reaffirm how beautiful those summer days used to be. 

Friday, July 13, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises

We all know how good the Christopher Nolan series has been on Batman so far. Next week, the last of the trilogy is going to be out and with very little doubt it has to be one of the most awaited release of the year. The suspense and drama of its release has been expressed widely on the web world with spoof, fan posters and articles. Few days back, I saw a spoof poster of 'The Dark Knight Rises' with the 60's Batman posing in it. He had a very acrobatic moment captured (reflected one of the Jitendra's white shoe dance). It almost looked like he is yawning too at the same time. The stance and the word 'Rise' juxtaposed really well together and an idea for my own version of the poster was born. High res file available on demand.
Here's the poster that inspired me -

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Brainwave. Issue 20. Movie Magic

I remember very clearly how ET was like a dream come true for me as a kid. The VHS of that movie played very often for the time it was rented. The iconic scene of bicycle flying in the backdrop of a giant silhouette of moon is ingrained in my memory. I am sure like me many will have similar memories of particular movies that spun the magical web for them. Being a kid of late eighties, movies with visual effects was still growing and being fed on a very selective few was like being drenched in good rain after a long dry spell.
In this issue of Brainwave, we have looked back at some of the milestones of visual effects usage in movies and the pioneers who worked around with creative ideas and technology to make the audience jump out of their seats leaving them in an awe holding on to their 3D glasses. This issue covers the theme through timeline, 'Top Ten' monsters, 'Here's How' sections and talking about a few highlighted movies. This structure came as a bit of strain because it required plenty of artworks and then putting it all together as one cover story. But we managed pretty well as a team. Here are my artworks for this issue.

Splash Page for cover story
Top Ten Monsters 
Godzilla

Hulk

The Mummy
Highlighted Movies
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow



Star Wars episode 4: A new hope


Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  
Tron
A preview spread. 
King Kong, illustrated by Vinayak Varma and Avatar, illustrated by Anuranjini Singh.
I believe this issue is worth preserving for the future generations. I have my two copies well stacked in. 
I just got back to Bangalore after a short holiday from home. Finally, the work on my graphic novel has started again. One frame a day is what I am aiming for now. Hoping to take it ahead from there.