Kala Ghoda exhibit to pay tribute to Bollywood icons

Saurabh Turakhia with some of his 300-odd artworks. Pics/Atul Kamble

"I relate more to Eklavya than Arjun," quips Saurabh Turakhia when we catch up with him in his Kandivli home. In the last 11 years, the 38-year-old has created over 300 artworks of film and music artistes, probably one of the most comprehensive collections of Bollywood celebrities across generations in the city. "It is not that I don't acknowledge the contribution of teachers and gurus, but I believe that if one gives all their energy to something one seeks, one will find a way. In replication art, one can be totally dependent on his observations," says the lanky Turakhia.

Since December last year, he has been exhibiting his work outside Jehangir Art Gallery almost every Sunday. "MCGM (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai) provides the space for '200 in a bid to encourage budding artists," Turakhia tells us. Among his works, two portraits stand out for us: one of Zohra Sehgal and another of Shakti Kapoor as Crime Master Gogo. The attention to detail that breathes life into the expression, is commendable.

The journey
In 2007, Turakhia, who works as a professional content writer, decided to make his weekends useful. "I was clear that I did not want expensive indulgences. That is when I decided to take up making portraits seriously," he says. The first portrait was of Amitabh Bachchan and since then, there has been no looking back. "I would vividly remember scenes and replicate them on paper. Though popular, sketching Bollywood celebrities is not an easy task. I use poster colours and brushes, and paint directly on paper," says Turakhia, whose interest in art sprung from replicating freedom icons from his history textbooks.

This activity took a serious turn when he came across a collection of sketches that one of his uncle's neighbours had. "It was Ms Soparkar auntie who taught me art in the early '90s. Her thick book had a series of different kinds of artworks - everyday people captured in their routine activities, still-life, flowers, etc. One derived special joy in simply going through her collection that was available for all students," he says. She prepared him for his elementary examinations. He went on to learn some perspectives of art from Vivek Thakker, a professional artist based in Vile Parle who contributed as a cartoonist to CineBlitz magazine. "I would visit the office Saturdays," says Turakhia, adding that this intensified his passion further and exposed him to the effect of light and shadows to a certain extent.

Most professional artists create portraits with the help of grids, but Turakhia prefers a free hand. "I visualise the grids in my mind and start drawing immeditately. This is risky as a slight miscalculation could lead to Pranab Mukherjee and RK Laxman looking the same!" quips Saurabh.

Once, he managed to offend an SRK fan. "The fan saw some very early work of mine and told me not to share such artworks, and scare him," recalls Turakhia, who sells printed copies of his work for '200 each. Till date, he has sold at least seven original portraits of celebrities and also done a few bespoke portrait assignments. Turakhia's works have made it to magazine covers, used by merchandise sites on phone covers and other knick-knacks.

Fame and the future
And all of this hasn't gone unrecognised by celebrities. Amitabh Bachchan, Anupam Kher, Shah Rukh Khan and Vidya Balan lauded his work when he shared it with them on social media sites, especially Twitter. "Twitter is non-intrusive where celebrities can respond if they want to; it helped me gain visibility," explains Turakhia.

His next step is to draw the whole human anatomy, which will help him create more original work. Here, you'll find find portraits of celebrities ranging from Nutan to Kajol and Raj Kapoor to Ranbir Kapoor. "Exhibiting my work there is the best I can do. If we truly are passionate about cricket and Bollywood as a nation, then my art will sell," he signs off.

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