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Bapu geesina bomma
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Be it the revered Lord Sri Rama or the naughty Budugu, it's the legendary Bapu all the way, says G.V.Ramana Rao.
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GIRLS FROM Andhra Pradesh, wherever they are, take it as a compliment when they are called a Bapu Bomma. The artist-film maker has immortalised the classic beauties of Andhra Pradesh through his very popular films, thousands of magazine illustrations and other works of art.
Bapu is particularly famous for his depiction of a woman in all her ethnic splendour. Known as a film-maker and director of the television serial, `Bhagvatham', he has to his credit a wealth of art in the form of cartoons, portraits, caricatures, illustrations, calligraphy, graphics and paintings, all of which he has produced in great volumes. Bapu fans claim that he has done over 60,000 illustrations and continues to produce more.
The artist had his first drawing published in 1945 when he was twelve. He has a unique style and his illustrations and paintings are marked by an economy of strokes. He has epitomised with great felicity the central themes of Ramayana, Mahabharatha, Bhagavatham, Amukta Maalayada, Annamacharya Keertana, Sri Sri's Mahaprasthanam and Dasarathi's translations of Ghalib's ghazals in his works . Thanks to the advances in printing technology it is now possible for art-lovers to secure an enlargement of Bapu's classic pieces for their drawing or dining rooms.
Impressions, a Vijayawada-based company, specialising in high quality reproduction of classic images, has paved way for transfer of Bapu's art to hundreds of households through its printing technology.
The Ramayana is easily Bapu's favourite subject. His mythological film is ''Sampoorna Ramayanam'' created waves while his Bommala Ramayanam earned him international repute as an artist. Bapu has undoubtedly risen to the status of an authority on the Hindu epics and scriptures through his works.
The piece de resistance at an exhibition of his works in the city, was an enlarged reproduction of Bapu's Ramayana in ten episodes. Viswanath, a city-based artist, feels that Bapu is at his best in painting. Using ornamentation to balance the different elements in the pictures, at the bottom was the title ''Ramayana -- retold and illustrated by Bapu''.
The different episodes depicted in the expo included Sri Rama and his brother, Lakshmana driving away demons who tried to disturb sage Viswamitra, Sita Swayamvaram, Paduka Pattabhishekham, Sita asking for the golden deer, the fight between Vali and Sugreeva, Hanuman finding Sita in Lanka, the slaying of Ravana, Sita's Agnipariksha, Sri Rama Pattabhishekam and finally, Sri Rama in the avataar of Mahavishnu resting on Adhiseshu with Goddess Lakshmi sitting by his side.
In the centre are Sita, Rama and Lakshmana being worshipped by Hanuman. Another enlarged pictorial depiction of the Ramayana in a single panel was also up for sale at the exhibition.
Bapu chose to depict in his paintings only the demolition of the dhanusha by Sri Rama to marry Sita (Bala Kanda), the incident of the golden deer (Aranya Kanda), Rama killing Vali (Kishkindha Kanda), Rama's battle with Ravana (Yuddha Kanda), Sita's fire ordeal (Yuddha Kanda) and coronation of Sri Rama.
In yet another series, he has selected a dozen episodes from the Ramayana depicted on a set of coffee mugs. They include King Dasaratha teaching archery to Sri Rama and Lakshmana, Kaikayi asking Dasaratha to send Rama to Vanavasam and Ravana severing Jatayu's wings.
"Bapu has inspired me to become a drawing teacher. He has inspired several artists in the State. His classic illustrations in Telugu magazines speak of his calibre, '' says Dilip Kumar, a visitor to the Bapu Bommala Koluvu.
The five-day exhibition-cum-sale of reproductions of images created by Bapu was organised by Impressions at Sri Vidya Sadan hall near Maris Stella College.
Coffee mugs featuring Budugu and his girlfriend were priced at Rs 200 per set while a set of Ramayana cups were sold for Rs 2,000. Impressions properietor, M.Rajaram, said over 100 of Bapu's famous paintings were put on display at the exhibition.
From a minimum of Rs. 125 per copy, the prices varied according to the size. Copies of paintings in different sizes were also on display enabling the art-lovers to make their choice. The six-foot long piece depicting the entire Ramayana at a glance was priced at Rs 2,500 while the ten-foot long image was for Rs 4,500.
Impressions has also obtained permission for printing of two new books of Bapu on the lines of `Bala Ramayanam' which were yet to be completed. Bapu, meanwhile, is working on Bala Bharatam and Sri Krishna Leelalu. Besides printing of the new books, Impressions also plans to re-print Bala Ramayanam, the copies of which are not available now.
The Bapu Bommala Koluvu drew good response in places like Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Guntur, Warangal, Kakinada, Chennai, Bangalore and as far as San Francisco.
Photos: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar
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