JUXTAPOZ 112

The last man standing

in a boy’s world
ARTIST NAME
ARTIST NAME

Balkrishna
Interview by Kirsten Incorvaia
Portrait by Balkrishna Arts L Vaidya 113
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Despite the unfaltering downpour of an season. Advertising last year’s blockbuster

Indian monsoon, a celebirty’s smiling face
radiates unaffected. The coveted features of
the Bollywood star remain electric under the
beating rain, forever enacting a romantic
tableau or halted action sequence. These
characters, immortalized in the realm of
hand-painted film posters, are donated
by Balkrishna Arts to those in need. The
oil-based, waterproof masterpiece exalts
Bollywood’s heroes in all their cinematic
glory, ironically juxtaposed against rotting
shantytown roofs from the deluge of monsoon
upward to a torrential sky, the film poster
signature of Balkrishna L Vaidya beams
toward the squall.
Hand-painted Bollywood film posters were
once critical to Indian Cinema—until the
digital age overtook Mumbai. In one of the
world’s most populated cities, an entire
industry of artists once specializing in hand-
painted movie posters is now snuffed by
mechanical reproduction, rendering each
artist studio extinct. All but Balkrishna Arts.

The last of his kind, Balkrishna
preserves the idyllic art form that
once fueled Indian mass culture.
Vaidya’s story is one of man
versus machine. Subsequently
the machine prevailed, and an
entire industry of artists became
a diaspora of mailmen, bellboys,
and clerks. Balkrishna discusses
the past nostalgically, but tapping
into an international market of
collectors, he has created a
hallowed historical niche for his
life’s work. —Kirsten Incorvaia
Kirsten Incorvaia: How did the
impoverished citizens of Mumbai
acquire old movie posters for the
sake of fortifying their shelters?
Balkrishna L Vaidya: We donate
posters to poor people if the
posters come back to us here in
the studio. Now there are no more
poor people in Mumbai because
the government has shifted them
all out. We used to donate posters
to people working in the field, who
put up and removed posters from
the theatres. They would pass the
message to poor people that Studio
Balkrishna had some old posters
that week. They would come ask us
about the old posters and we would
often donate them if the producer
didn’t need them. This was only
in the rainy season, because the
posters are made with oil-based
paint and are waterproof.
You were born into a family of
goldsmiths. Why did you reject the
family trade to pursue a career in
the arts?
I grew up in a very small village
called Harne. At that time gold was
an antique thing so I thought to run
to Bombay, now Mumbai.
It must have been challenging to
be uprooted from a small village
and relocate to the most populous
city in the world. Were you able to
maintain strong family ties?
I was well connected with my family
when I came to Mumbai. For three
years I worked without payment,
so I only had my family to support
me. I cannot tell you how hard
that time was. My family sold their
village house and moved here,
which made me feel very bad but
I promised the village people that
after a few years I would buy a new
house across from my old house.
Twenty years ago I bought a place
across from my old house and
now we have a beautiful two-story
home. This is how my village has
remained connected to me.
What attracted you to the hand-
painted Bollywood film posters?
I came to Mumbai looking for any
kind of work. Someone told me
that a certain company needed
an assistant painter. So in 1952 I
started working in modern art as
an assistant without any payment.
I worked like this year after year.
Studio Ganesh gave me my first
real break as an artist. Ganesh
took me to a different part of
India to paint movie posters. In
this period I started making small
poster designs for many films. One
producer named Gopal Segal liked
my work and asked me to make
his big film posters. Then in 1969 I
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opened my own studio at Dadar.
What did the process of hand
painting entail?
We are totally working with hand
mixing. Also, we don’t use a
projector. That is why we are called
hand painting poster artists, but in
different parts of India the artists
used projectors. Mumbai is the
only place where all artists worked
by hand, which is why Mumbai is
called the “Heart of Bollywood.”
How are you able to produce high
quality paintings with inexpensive
materials?
We work with oil colors that are
totally waterproof. The high quality
of our posters is due to the process
we use, not the materials. But we
BALKRISHNA L VAIDYA
use the best of our material. We
used to order 100 kilograms of
color every month, but now we buy
smaller quantities and the paint is
more expensive.
Since hand painting movie posters
was faster than producing them
by machine up until 1995, I am
curious about how many posters
Balkrishna Arts produced each
week?
It depends on the amount of
posters and how much time the
producer has given us to paint. One
time in 1995 or 1996 we made 70
posters, 20 feet by 10 feet in size,
between Monday and Thursday. On
Friday the movie was on screen. It
was for the movie Gupt, by the big
producer, Mr Gulshan Rai. He made
many big films at that time. This
shows the teamwork of our studio
and we received an award for that.
How many artists now work at
Balkrishna Arts?
Now we have three artists working
in this studio. At that time we had
10 to 15 artists in my studio.
When digitally mass producing
movie posters became cheaper
than hand painting methods, why
did Studio Balkrishna resist a
digital transformation?
No studios turned digital to
produce movie posters. Almost all
the studios are closed and only one
studio is still open, which is Studio
Balkrishna. I had my own studio in
Dadar but it is closed now. We had
to move to another place called
ARTIST NAME
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Mahim. It is smaller because now
we no longer make posters that are
40 feet by 60 feet. Now we work
only for Europe and other countries,
who believe in our difficult hand-
made process. This creates a 100
percent different result. That is why
I still work—even though I am 74
years old.
Why is Studio Balkrishna the only
survivor of Bollywood’s digital age?
Since 1999 we have been the
only studio that survived the
digitalization of movie posters. In
1993, Mr Hans Dermels from PSA
Publishers Ltd of Zurich visited our
studio to learn about Bollywood.
He liked our fast style of working.
At that time the machines could not
make posters as fast and as large.
We were invited for our first visit
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to a European country, and still we
are invited to different countries to
make large hand-painted posters.
How have Bollywood films
changed since the 1990s, when an
influx of investors globalized the
industry?
Bollywood has totally changed
since 1995. I think after 1985 the
name Bollywood was coined; in
our time we referred to it simply
as Indian Cinema. This is the real
name; they called our cinema
posters the highlight of Indian
Cinema.
Is it true that the Bombay
underworld largely funds and
influences Bollywood films?
I don’t know personally, but in TV
: “There is no center anymore.
India Cinema, and lost. There were
many hand painting artists, not just
me, and there were many new up-
and-coming artists. But still, I am
surviving in Bollywood.
How did the November 2008
bombings affect Mumbai? How
has the city recovered from these
attacks?
There has been no affect on
Mumbai’s people. They started
working the next day. We feel bad
about the victims who died in this
bombing and their families. You
see, the word “Bombay” versus
“bombing” is really only one word,
so you can imagine how strong the
people of Mumbai are.
Has there been a notable
difference in public space and daily
news they always show that the
Bombay underworld is the main
funder and has the largest influence
in Bollywood films.
Does Indian mass culture now
overlook traditional artisan relics,
such as the hand-painted film
hoardings?
There are many cultures in India,
not just Bollywood, but no one has
time to see them. At that time many
people were watching us work
with brushes in our studio. Now
no one has time. Neither does the
government. But I am happy with
what I have done in my life; only I
remember my old days. I cannot
forget anyone who has helped me
reach this point in my life.
Have the Bollywood films lost a
This is the time of the young
boys’ digital world.”
life since the attacks? Is there a
restored sense of security in 2009?
Yes, there are two or three buildings
under restoration. Work is going
very fast and the Mumbai police
force is one of the greatest police
forces in India. They managed in a
few hours to restore security.
When you aren’t hard at work in
the studio, what are the best ways
to relax in Mumbai?
We watch dramas and cinema,
and play games like cricket.
Sometimes we spend time with
our family members or have time
to relax, depending on work. The
last three or four years we have
taken Sunday holidays. But when
we were working in the big studio,
we worked regularly without a day
BALKRISHNA L VAIDYA
connection with the Indian people,
now that the artist’s hand is
removed from the creation of its
signage?
No. In Mumbai and all over India no
one thinks about a lost connection
because there are no hand-painted
posters. The young boys and girls
like the new Bollywood films and
they don’t know about hand-
painted posters. If you give them
anything new, a few hours later that
is what sticks in their mind. Now in
Mumbai, within an hour you will get
something else new.
Do you still feel inspiration to
paint posters that are not for real
Bollywood films?
I would like to paint Indian film
posters but not for Mumbai. I think
off. Now we have a small studio
in Mahim, but still there is no way
to relax because our telephone
number is in all the tourist
guidebooks.
What place, activity, or tradition is
the cultural center of Mumbai?
There is no center anymore. This is
the time of the young boys’ digital
world.
Although you look back to the
old days of hand-painted movie
posters with nostalgia, are you
satisfied with your current niche in
the international art market?
Now I do not look back at the old
days. Gone is gone. But I think
about the artists that were up and
coming when their studios closed
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it’s better to work for uniqueness—
museums from Europe and other
countries commission us to paint
cinema posters. They invite us to
give live demonstrations of our art
form that no longer exist in their
countries. We have not lost any
energy; we have only lost our minds
because artists are very deep-
feeling people.
Now that the radio, television
shows, and websites have taken
over the role of advertising
upcoming films, have the posters
disappeared completely from the
public landscape?
The posters have completely
disappeared from the public
landscape in Mumbai. It is a loss
of traditional culture because many
people moved here to work in the
down. They were in the middle of
their lives, well-learned. A few days
ago I heard that some of the artists
are working as courier boys, and
some in clothing stores and hotels.
What happened? After working
and learning about art and culture,
they have nowhere to go. When
you see a Bollywood or Hollywood
film, after the film has finished, the
only thing you see on the screen
is THE END. This is the real end of
our lives as artists, based on films
called “Bollywood.”
For more information about
Balkrishna L Vaidya, contact
Hindiposter.com.