User:Aakash Biswas

Sky is the Limit But Aakash anant hai……

What should ideally be the highlight of the resume of a young man, aspiring to be a film director?!?

-A pedigree in a renowned filmy family?!? or -A protégé of some iconic filmmaker?!? or -A product of an American or European film school???

What if the individual concern doesn’t have any of the aforesaid distinction to boast about? Surely, he doesn’t stand a chance against his much decorated counterparts. I’m poised to prove this notion wrong coz he firmly believes in the adage `art imitates life’. For him film making is all about depicting the highs and lows and the ups and downs of life. His confidence lies in the fact that he has seen, observed and experienced life more than his counterparts that too at a very young age. Twenty seven to be precise. I was just 5 or 6 when the moving images on celluloid impressed my tender mind and soul. Christian Missionaries have always been an integral part of life in Kolkota and their propagators used to screen the life and times of Jesus Christ on routine basis. What those pictures tried to say was irrelevant for me but what caught my imagination was the moving images on the big screen. Later in the night my grandmother used to explain the stories on the celluloid, cleverly replacing the incidents and the characters with her own favourites and interestingly my mind’s eyes used to create those images and character and slowly I began to see and create my own images and characters the way an accomplished director see them before recording them in films and that’s when probably a film director inside me was born.

It would not be an overstatement if I say that I had an eye for artistry right from the childhood, else Da Vinci’s The Last Supper would not have been on the cover of my Bangla language book. Well, it’s a very interesting anecdote to share. Once while playing with other children I spotted the then famous glossy magazine Soviet Nari thrown in the dustbin. The magazine had pictures of some of the greatest painters the world has ever known including Leonardo Da Vinci, Salvador Dali and Tinterato. I must confess that I did not have the slightest idea who Da Vinci was or what was The Last Supper, all I knew was that the psychedelic images again caught my eyes and I did not hesitate to pick the magazine from the stinking dustbin and this The Last Supper became the cover of my text book. My brush with the Indian painters and their works is again an equally interesting story to share. My teacher father doesn’t have a conscious inclination towards arts and painting but as they say `it’s all in the family’, he certainly seemed to have an eye for artistry as my father used to decorate the walls of my ancestral home in New Barrackkpur, Kolkota with portraits of stunningly beautiful women and depictions of a playful Radha and Krishna. The portraits were actually the copies of the work of the legendry Raja Ravi Verma which my father himself me was aware about. Later when I grow up and joined Art College for a formal education on fine arts I learned that the creators of exceptional work of art that were adoring either the cover of my books or the weather beaten walls of my home were actually Lionardo Dr Vinci, Salvador Dali, Tinterato and our very own Raja Ravi Verma. As long as my memory goes my first ever work of art if I may call it so, was an `Alpana’ (traditional Bengali drawing drawn during festivals) which was in fact an ugly scrawl on the wall of my home. My mother instead of getting angry, found those scrawls artistic and encouraged me to ruin more walls and thus `Aakash’ the artist was born.

I was just three when this `phenomenon’ occurred and today many walls, many canvases and 25 years later I’m an accomplished artist with considerable reorganization for my versatility with painting, music, singing and theatre. My solitary admirer my mother too is not alone as she has gradually been joined by my other family members, my neighbours, their friends, their friends’ friends followed by the whole of Kolkatans then the whole of West Bengal. The accolades even went beyond my home state to national as well as international level with a citation from the then British premier Tony Blair but the greed for admiration refuses to relent. Still, an artist is nothing sans humanity and humility and I must admit that the almighty has graced me with both to the hilt. Life was certainly not the bed of roses but instead of making it a handicap and an easy excuse for inertia I took the adversaries as the blessing in disguise and managed turned them into my strength. I was just 12 when my father developed life threatening health problems. Being the only earning member of the family, my father’s ailment meant literal starvation for the entire family. By that time I was already enjoying a reputation of an amateur artist as I was displaying my skills with brush, sculpting, theatre and creative writing and well-wishers were willing to help me both emotionally and financially but instead of being indebted of their sympathies I decided to turn Pro with my creative skills and the same well-wishers were glad to be my clients. Soon I was earning a `fortune’ by giving painting tuition to children (even adults), developing practical copy and herbarium files for science students and designing projects for B Ed. Trainees. Besides I was also painting signboards and designing cultural exhibitions and religious festivals. I didn’t even hesitate to work as a sales boy at a stationary shop because it used to give me proximity with things I love and live for viz the pens, pencils, paints, brushes, drawing sheets etc. etc. and at the same time I was also contributing my creative skills in a Bangal newspaper `Bangla Samvad’ as chief editor and cartoonist. I still remember the day when the whole of Kolkota turned up to see my solo exhibition `Charm of the rural Bangal’ (1999) where I displayed an unprecedented 378 ft long and 15 ft wide wall painting depicting six seasons Grishma, Versha, Sharat, Hemant, Sheet, and Basant.

Life was tough but I never felt let down or unfortunate, instead it helped me understand it (life) up, close and personal. I believe that the almighty has blessed with me with more than I deserve and therefore I try my best to give back as much as I an getting from my life. I still cherish those moments I has with the NGO SOPIL and managed to give thousands of unprivileged people a reason to smile. The memories of the devastating flood of the year 2000 are etched deep into my mind and soul when me and fellow social activists had snatched from the jaws of death about three dozen flood victims who were stranded in the watery grave for 7 days without food and hope. When I fed those hungry men, women and children with my hands I witnessed the greatest happiness and sorrow at the same moment. Later I shared this unique experience with the world in the exhibition aptly titled `Feelings on Flood’ where I depicting the fury of flood with three dozen paintings that were appreciated by high-profile dignitaries of west Bengal.

The exigencies gave me a rare exposure to the big, bad world of harsh reality and `Aakash the Kalakar’ got his fodder for thought as I look and search for effective ways to express my feeling. The walls of the houses and buildings of New Barrackpur could vouch for my claim as, as many as 150 of my paintings and portraits still adorn them. I own Kolkota the little bit I managed to achieve as a creative person as the City of Joy gave me huge canvas to cultivate and groom my skills. I also had a small stint at Bangla theatre and television industry (read Tollywood) as writer, art designer and actor as an amateur. Later when I felt the need of exposing my talents on professional turfs I moved to Delhi and single handedly set up an advertising agency. I was still so young that my client had to be assured that the person talking business sitting across the table is indeed the brain behind the enterprise. Like Kolkota, Delhi too gave me enough exposure to hone my skills.

Art is nothing without admiration so is an artist without an admirer. An artist happens to be one of the greediest creatures. The more admiration he gets the more he tries to improve upon his creativity so as to multiply this admiration. He always looks for new opportunities and avenues where he could showcase his artistry and gets as much admiration as he could in the bargain. My creative journey that began from my home town Kolkota had a reqarding stopover at the national capital Delhi and now it has reached to the land of immense opportunities Mumbai as I’m willing to reach my art and creativity to the next level with my latest and ultimate canvas `The Celluloid’. I believe this transition is a natural progression coz cinema is one medium where I can put together all my creative skills viz painting, music, singing and theatre on one platform and entertain larger audiences in one go. I’m may be relatively new and inexperienced in the world of cinema but I’m poised to achieve of latest goal of being `a film director with a difference’ and the reason behind my confidence is my belief that `art imitates life’