Feb 11 2011

Caricature/Cartoon of A.R. Rahman, Indian Music Composer and Oscar Winner!

A.S. Dileep Kumar who for some personal reasons changed his religion to Islam and his name to Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian musician and music-composer, who won two Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire a movie directed by Danny Boyle.

Here’s my take on this legend.

The Caricature, Cartoon, Drawing, Portrait of A R Rahman (Rehman) who won two Oscars for Jai Ho in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

The Halo of Music...or Controversies?

A Short Biography of Rahman:

A.R. Rahman was born on January 6th 1966, in an affluent Hindu Tamil family. His father composed music for Malayalam films. He lost his father at a very young age and it was somewhere around that time when he and his entire family decided to change their religion and convert to Islam. According to this article here AR Rahman’s mother (Kareema) was a Muslim and after his Hindu father’s death, the family reconverted to Islam and acquired Muslim names. The reason why he changed his religion is still shrouded in mystery, however, it’s said that he did it to save his sister’s life.

Rahman is married to Saira Banu (not the emaciated yesteryear beauty though!)

An Interesting Bollywood Coincidence, which will make more sense to Indians:

Here it goes.
Saira Banu (of vintage Bollywood variety) married Dilip Kumar, who changed his name from Muhammad Yusuf Khan to Dilip Kumar – she did have to struggle with Yusuf Khan’s polygamous nature though. However Yusuf Khan took up the name Dileep Kumar only as a screen name with a wider appeal, and saw he was never on the wrong side of the law by having more than one wife.
Saira Banu (wife of AR Rahman) married AR Rahman, who changed his name from Dileep kumar (don’t worry about the spelling) to AR Rahman.

Coincidences happen in a chaotic world…right?

A. R. Rahman’s Meteoric Rise:

Rahman’s rise in Bollywood began with his meeting with Mani Ratnam in an advertising awards function, after which he gave music for Roja in 1992 (Note that Rahman was paid 25K INR (about USD 1000 in those days) to compose music for Roja, this is in stark contrast to around Rs. 5 Crores equivalent of USD 1 Million for composing the Commonwealth Games 2010 Anthem) After Roja, he created music for many Tamil films, until he got the opportunity to compose the songs for Rangeela. After the success of Rangeela’s songs, Rahman continued to work for the Mumbai Film Industry to compose many hit songs. Among his noteworthy films are: Rangeela, Dil Se, Taal, Rang De Basanti, Bombay!

His Album “Vande Mataram“, which he released on August 15, 1997 (the fiftieth anniversary of India’s independence,) sold more than a Million copies in India.

Find an extremely detailed biography of Rehman here.

Rahman’s Jai Ho wins him the Oscars:

In 2009, Rahman wrote the score for “Jai Ho“, which helped him win the first two Oscars for India. He got the Oscars for Danny Boyle directed movie “Slumdog Millionnaire”. (Unfortunately, the only movie about India that became internationally famous is an extremely biased movie, which completely ignores the positives of India to accentuate and glorify its poverty.) The two Academy Awards that he won were for Best Original Music Score and Best Original Song.

Visit Rahman’s official website here.

Rahman in News Again:

The newest news on the international scene is that AR Rehman has bagged 2 Oscar nominations for Danny Boyle’s 127 hours. What’s noteworthy is the ease with which Rahman has been able to establish a long-term relationship with Danny Boyle – I’d have loved to see him work with other Hollywood Directors too…but Rahman is a steady goat, isn’t he? I hope he gets the Oscars this year, because after the CWG Anthem fiasco, which gave us a soggy song (read about it here) touted to be better than Shakira’s waka-waka, I’d love to get a confirmation that the awards were for the musical score and not for a fantastic rendering of India’s poverty. Go Rahman Go! Get those awards and win back my trust…if you’d care to.

Want to know if I am an ARR fan?

I love some of his work – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have drawn his caricature here:) But I saw him on the CWG stage – and I don’t think that if his…what was the CWG Anthem again?…well that anthem needed the crutches of Jai ho, especially when after the whole corruption scandal we were waiting for him to spin gold or silver at least…so – my current status is “NOT FAN!”

I believe there are things that are bigger than money, fame, and even Oscars. A sense of pride in being what you are and carrying it through with your head held high. I’d never work for a Slumdog Millionnaire nor would I ever charge Rs. 5 Crores for composing an anthem for my country. (Remember that it was the first time in its history that India was hosting a sports event at International scale!) But I guess I am being the milkmaid, if you know what I mean:)

Oct 23 2010

Caricature/Cartoon – The Angry Young Man of the Indian Film Industry – The Great Amitabh Bachchan!

I had been thinking of drawing the caricature of Amitabh Bachchan ever since I began this blog some ten months ago, but I didn’t because I couldn’t decide which version of Amitabh should grace this space. The young Amitabh who I grew up with, or the older and the currently popular Big B! I vacillated. I got my references in order for both – and waited.

For reasons unknown to me – I can’t connect with Big B. He isn’t the Amitabh who we talked about when I was a child – Big B is a father and an exemplary one too, who sits with his son on his lap so that his halo blinds us into believing that his son too has got one; he is a patriarch trying to put together an inheritance for his next twenty generations; he is an anchor of a very serious show built around the middle-class dream of becoming a millionaire – Big B is different from the Amitabh of my childhood. I loved his image of the angry young man, the young and emotional persona that swept the entire country off its feet in the 70s and 80s! If that young Amitabh wasn’t there, Big B, Abhishek Bachchan…and all the rest of them wouldn’t be!

I present, with my respect, regard, and love, the caricature of the legendary Bollywood hero, the Great Actor of the Indian Film Industry – Amitabh Bachchan, in his young Avatar!

Caricature, Cartoon, Sketch, Portrait, of young Amitabh Bachchan, the legendary actor of the Indian Cinema - Bollywood, now also known as the Big B!

Amitabh Bachchan – During his “Angry Young Man” Days!

Here’s a short biography of Amitabh Bachhan.

Amitabh Bachchan’s Shortest Biography on the Web (which still is long enough!)

Amitabh Bachchan, was born on 11 October 1942, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a Hindi Poet, who was as modern in his ideology as he was in his poems. Long back when the caste system still ruled the roost in India, he got married to a beautiful Sikh girl called Teji, and their union resulted in Amitabh and Ajitabh! Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a Shrivastav, who used Bachchan as his pen name, which became extremely popular, and so the family decided to adopt Bachchan as their surname.

Amitabh, unlike the scions of the affluent and the influential didn’t study at Oxford or Harvard, because he probably was born before Harivansh Rai Bachchan had reached the pinnacle of his success. Thus, the Kirorimal College of Delhi University can boast of being his Alma Mater! Three Cheers for KMC at DU.

Now young Amitabh tried to work for a shipping company run by birds – but his Mom Teji Bachchan possibly told him that he was made for bigger and better things. Young Amitabh decided to give acting a shot in 1969 and debuted in Saat Hindustani (7 Indians! Wow…and all of them in the same movie! No wonder that the movie didn’t do great at the box office. If you are reading between the lines…there’s nothing…honestly.) However Amitabh ended up with an award!

Then onwards, there was no stopping the tall young man with those smoldering eyes and with that deep baritone voice. In 1973, came his biggest success – Sholay (The Violent Sparks of Fire)! By this time, Amitabh had established his Angry Young Man image completely. His fans were beginning to copy his hairstyle, his dance moves, his dialogs, even the angry look in his eyes! Amitabh was fast becoming a phenomenon in Bollywood.

Sometime around the late eighties, when Amitabh was shooting for Coolie, he was injured. With that almost fatal injury, he turned somewhat pessimistic. One thing led to another (as it always does in my posts,) and Amitabh disappeared from the scene for almost a decade. However, the new century brought about a change in the Bacchhan family’s fortunes. It began with Mohabattein in which he worked with Shahrukh Khan. In the same year, he also appeared as the host of the TV Show “Kaun Banega Crorepati” (the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”).

His most recent success was Paa, in which his son Abhishek played his father, and for which he won the National Award for Best Actor.

Amitabh Bachchan – Interesting Infobytes:

Amitabh could’ve been called Inquilab (Revolution) had his name not been changed to Amitabh. I wonder whether his name would’ve changed his fortune.
Amitabh and Jaya (his wife) worked together in a movie called Guddi, before they got married. There’s about a 14 inch difference in their heights.
Amitabh has been romantically linked with the beautiful Bollywood actress Rekha (his co-star in Silsila.)
He is the first Asian actor to have his wax model at Madame Tussaud’s
His most common screen mom was Nirupa Roy.
His most common screen name used to be Vijay.
He was awarded the Hottest Male Vegetarian Award by PETA.
Amitabh Bachchan’s family has not one but two legends – Amitabh and Aishwarya, his daughter-in-law!

A List of Amitabh Bachchan’s Films:

Saat Hindustani
Anand
Reshma aur Shera
Guddi
Zanjeer
Abhimaan
Namak Haraam
Roti, Kapda, aur Makaan
Chupke Chupke
Deewaar
Sholay
Kabhi Kabhi
Amar Akbar Anthony
Trishul
Don
Muquaddar Ka Sikandar
Mr. Natwarlal
Do aur Do Paanch
Lawaaris
Silsila
Yaraana
Kalia
Satte pe Satta
Namakhalal
Khuddaar
Coolie
Sharabi
Shahenshah
Mohabbatein
Baghban
Black
Sarkar
Nishabd
Cheeni Kum
Paa

(This, of course, is a partial list of his movies, but I guess it covers the collectibles!)

You can find the Complete List of Amitabh Bachchan’s Films here.
Find the List of Amitabh Bachchan’s awards and nominations here.
Find Amitabh Bachchan/Big B’s Blog here.

Sep 24 2010

Caricature/Cartoon – Shahrukh Khan or King Khan wondering Bollywood ka King Kaun!

Shahrukh Khan (SRK), the second Bollywood Khan to grace this blog with his caricatured presence, is a famous Hindi Film Star, who started his acting career literally from scratch, and became one of the most celebrated actor of Indian Cinema.

Here’s my take on Shahrukh. He sits here contemplating who is the real King of Bollywood (and hence, King Kaun!)

Caricature, Cartoon, Sketch, or Portrait of Shahrukh Khan, SRK, or King Khan of Indian Cinema, Bollywood!

Bollywood ka King Kaun? Aamir, Salman, or, I?

Shahrukh Khan’s Shortest Biography on the Web:

Shahrukh was born on November 02, 1965, in New Delhi, India. Though he was born and then educated in New Delhi (completed school at St. Columba’s, graduated from Hansraj College in Delhi University, and completed his post-graduation from Jamia Milia Islamia) he moved to Mumbai in 1991, after he lost his parents. Shahrukh (a Muslim) married Gauri (a Hindu) and he says that though he is a devout Muslim himself, his wife follows Hinduism – and the children follow both the religions (This can be really tricky, if you ask me…but don’t ask me – ask him.)

Shahrukh Khan’s Film-Career:

Guess the story began in Delhi, when Shahrukh joined the TAG (Theatre Action Group – Barry John) after which he acted in a television serial called “Fauji” in which he played the role of a commando. This was in the late eighties…and I remember people appreciating his work in the serial.

When he moved to Mumbai in 1991, he began his acting career with a movie called “Deewana”. Dewaana was followed by hits such as “Darr” and “Baazigar“. Unlike the other two Khans (Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, who were his contemporaries) Shahrukh’s initial movies cast him in semi-villainous roles. The movie that broke the villain-mold (which hadn’t had the time to harden and so broke easily) was “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge“.

Then came “Pardes” , “Dil To Pagal Hai“, and “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai“, and Shahrukh was established as a Star in Bollywood.

In the decade of 2000, among other movies, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) gave us:

This how Shahrukh Khan transformed into King Khan!

Shahrukh Khan’s Six Pack Abs:

This post wouldn’t be complete if I don’t write about his six-pack abs, which he developed for his son Aryan and flaunted in the song Darde-disco in “Om Shanti Om”.

According to Shahrukh:

“I decided to get ’sexy’ for a boy … my son. He kept telling me to go get a six-pack. He’d say that Salman, Hrithik, John were the ‘good physiques’. And even though I’ve always been fit, never fat, he wanted me to get abs, so I did. This one’s for him.”

(Girls…stop drooling…we don’t want to smudge his caricature – do we?)

Here are some other links for SRK’s Fans:

As Always,

Thanks to Wikipedia for being such a wonderful source of information:)

And…special thanks to Barb, whose passion for Shahrukh made this caricature happen:-)

Aug 14 2010

Coming up…Caricature of Kareena Kapoor – a.k.a Bebo – Bollywood’s size 0 heart-throb!

Hello my dear visitors, Indians (of the non-resident type with their hearts residing in India, are welcome too) and Foreigners!

I’ll be uploading Kareena Kapoor’s (Bebo’s) caricature today! So if you are keen on this Bollywood star, despite her size-0 obsession…make another stopover sometime this evening (Indian – truly standard – time!)

And remember, those bees don’t sting!

Aug 13 2010

Cartoon/Caricature Gallery Updated with New Caricatures!

Hello Readers,
I’ve just updated the Caricature Gallery with the new caricatures that I had added to this blog in the past three months. You can view it at: https://shafali.wordpress.com/gallery/

I hope you’ll enjoy the new additions (including Lady Gaga, Russell Crowe, Oracle Octopus Paul, Einstein, among many others!)

And yes,
I’ll be posting the caricature of Kareena Kapoor, the darling of Bollywood, who is affectionately known as Bebo, very soon – and then you can tell me if she’d not look like Paris Hilton, if she bleached her hair. They are sisters – I don’t know how – but they are! Ever hear of Atavism? I think that’s what’s at work here!

That’s all:)

Aug 1 2010

Caricature/Cartoon Bollywood Hero Aamir Khan – 3 Idiots – Bollywood ka King Kaun?

Presenting Bollywood ka King – Aamir Khan!

Caricature Cartoon Sketch of Aamir Khan the King of Bollywood - Indian Actor, Producer, and Director.

Bollywood ka King - Aamir Khan!

Lost? The Story Behind this Caricature of Aamir Khan:

What you need to know in order to understand this caricature is that Bollywood is dominated (was) by three Khans. They all came into the industry almost together and India watched their progress with great interest. These three Khans were:

Aamir Khan (Of this post.)
Salman Khan (Son of Screenwriter Salim Khan)
Shahrukh Khan (The only Khan with no family connections in Bollywood) (Update: Feb 12, 2011: You can view Shahrukh Khan’s Caricature here.)

There was a time when the three Khans were in obvious competition.

Then Salman destroyed himself (he does weird things, like hunting endangered animals – and I remember that he even mowed down some people – one person died – once.) The overall impact of these legal hassles was that in this race of the three Khans, he fell behind.
Shahrukh was ahead in the race (the man is talented and when he was younger, he was much better looking than the other two – ever since he got into the six-pack business, his face has begun to look like a desiccated mango 😦 ) Unfortunately, fame got to his head (happens with people who come from humble backgrounds and become very famous) and he went around telling everyone that he was the King of Bollywood.
Aamir however was used to fame from an early age, and so when he became successful, he stayed humble. Now humility is something that is appreciated a lot in India and we especially like to see some of it in those we idolize – helps our egos I guess. So, in the long run, he emerged the winner.

Aamir Khan’s Shortest Biography on the Web:

Born on March 14, 1965, Aamir Khan is one of the most popular actors in Indian Cinema today. He began his career in 1973, as a child actor (who played the character of Ratan, the third brother) in Yaadon ki Baaraat. This film was produced by his Uncle. Thus, Aamir Khan belongs to the first wave of Bollywood Putras (Sons of Bollywood) in Bollywood. In 1988, at the age of 23, Aamir acted as the male lead in QSQT (Quayamat se Quayamat tak), which was made by his cousin.

Aamir Khan’s Rise to Fame:

Aamir however was made for bigger and better things. He turned producer for the film Lagaan in which he also played the male lead – and Lagaan was nominated for the Academy Award. In 2007, for the first time, he turned a director with the movie, Taare Zameen Per (Stars on the Ground) – a movie about the struggle of a dyslexic child. Next he dazzled India with Ghajini (and his young male fans went around sporting the weird hairstyle that you see here.) And then came 3 Idiots – the inspiration for this cartoon.

And so, Aamir won the race with three phenomenal successes in a row, Taare Zameen Per, Ghajini, and 3 Idiots.

Recently, he also received the Padma Bhushan for his work…and right now, as he says on his blog, he is on a promo-tour for his newest film Peepli Live (already in controversy for its song, Mahangai dayan (inflation witch)).

Alll Ijjj Wellll!

Aug 1 2010

Aamir Khan’s Caricature (Three Idiots?)- Coming right up!

Aamir Khan’s going to be here soon. (But remember, we’d be following the IST or the Indian Stretchable Time.)

It’s the Pipli Live Promotion tour – I’ll be watching the movie…will you?

Here’s the link to his blog – http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog/login.php

Stay tuned…

Jul 27 2010

Portraits, Caricatures, Cartoons of Famous Bollywood Actors and Indian Sportsmen!

Plans…plans…plans!

Ah well! I first went crazy drawing all those Hollywood actors and actresses. Then I went on a trip into the past and brought along historical caricatures. Now, try as I might, I am not able to go back to Hollywood. In fact, Bollywood has been calling me!

Here are the caricatures that I am thinking of drawing. (I’ve done a couple of sketches already…)