Biswajit Balasubramanian likes to explore social issues in serial frames, the way artists explore concepts, learns Hema Vijay, after a tete-e-tete with the cartoonist.
In Biswajit Balasubramanian's cartoon 'Child Prodigy', on stage is the standard retinue behind a Carnatic vidwan — the nadhaswaram artiste, the ghatam artiste, and the tambura artiste; but holding centre stage is a crawling infant — cajoled to deliver a kutcheri! This is an image Chennai's kutcheri crowd didn't find bizarre, just mildly amusing. That's not because they lack a sense of humour, just that it was an imagination not too far-fetched. "I think it provoked plenty of introspection, more than the reams of words that have been written about the negatives that have cropped up in an otherwise spectacular event: it questioned with wit: Is the maarghazhi musical extravaganza getting to be more of a showmanship than a celebration," says city-based musician and psychiatrist Dr Amuda Vijaykumar. That is one of the reasons why Chennai-based Biswajit Balasubramanian is gaining reputation as a cartoon artist. His cartoons work because they are funny, and uncomfortably close to reality.
Of course, cartoons are supposed to be precisely so. But in a country where cartoonists invariably get linked to political perspectives, Biswajit remains one of the rare breed of cartoonists who thoroughly enjoys having fun at the expense of, and to the benefit of, society — raising a mirror to society, prompting reflection and introspection. That is possibly because Biswajit doesn't look at cartooning as a profession. A Saurashtrian settled in Tamil Nadu for good, he happens to be a textile yarn industrialist. "I used to doodle as a boy, and draw images from Amar Chitra Katha and other graphic novels, but never really took art seriously," he shares. After a commerce degree in the temple city of Madurai, he delved into his family's spinning business. It is much later that serious cartooning entered his life. And today, he happens to be one of the few Indian cartoonists who has exhibited his works in international gallery spaces, much like painters and sculptors.
'Child Prodigy' was not a stand-alone cartoon. Biswajit likes to explore social issues in serial frames, the way artists explore concepts. For instance, 'Madras Music Musings', Biswajit's collaboration with noted classical musician and pianist Anil Srinivasan, had several other perceptive cartoons. Like the cartoon which has an NRI rasika listening to a kutcheri streamed online and remarking, "What I really miss are Natesan's bondas and Iyer's mixture," a pun on how kutcheris are being hijacked by the canteens hosted at the sabhas themselves. There have been other collaborations too — like with writer Ranjitha Ashok in the book Chennai Latte - A Madras Brew. This artist who has had his cartoons featured on the cover page of the strictly traditional Shruti magazine, and has exhibited his cartoons at Forum Art Gallery in Chennai, Nehru Centre, London, and at Sutra Gallery in Kuala Lumpur among others, will be holding a solo show at The Cartoon Gallery in Bangalore in October.
Cartoon as commentary
"'Child Prodigy' was a fallout of something I noticed in a few of my NRI friends who come to the city every year during Chennai's December music season. But those kids were not really here on a holiday. Even toddlers had to take music lessons during their stay here," narrates Biswajit. Alongside, Biswajit also noticed that the singers on stage were getting younger and younger, and his imagination drew up 'Child Prodigy'. "It is not just me. Most cartoonists are critical observers of reality around them. We are social animals who love conversations and interactions with people. These inputs are being recorded unintentionally all the time, and they surface as cartoons," he remarks. Unlike artists of other kinds, probably cartoonists are a breed of artists who don't tend to live in their own worlds.
Curiously, this artist who likes to sketch social reality, takes inspiration from the preposterous Asterix comics. "The kind of detailing that is there in Asterix is simply amazing. For instance, even while a boisterous fight is going on among the Gaulish villagers, there would be two birds talking to each other atop a tree or a few boars commenting on the unruly villagers. Asterix's creators understood that life did not end with those on centre stage," Biswajit muses. This is an attitude Biswajit extends into his own cartooning. In most of Biswajit's cartoons, while the central characters mouth the punch line, the side characters are on their own trip, having their own encounters and conversations.
Detailing in black and white
Visually too, Biswajit likes to do a lot of detailing in his cartoons, which gives volume and depth to the image. And over the years, the lines of his cartoons have become more pronounced. "Maybe that is because I have much more confidence in myself as a person, and as a cartoonist," he quips. Is there some cartoon he would like to have done differently? "All the time. In fact, even looking at cartoons I have just finished, I get agitated by thoughts of different ways I could have handled it in," he says. Biswajit prefers cartooning in black and white. Only lately has he begun to flash a dab of water colour in his works.
"Sometimes it takes a week for a single line to materialise; sometimes, an entire cartoon springs forth in an hour. But certainly, cartooning is not as simple as scratching a few lines to sketch out a pun, as is the popular perception. It is not just an intellectual exercise, but there is a lot of technique involved too," he adds. But one can't really be taught to cartoon; it is either here in you, or isn't, believes Biswajit. Perhaps the advantageous facet about cartoon art is that you can learn so much from observation of the classic cartoons. "Composition, positioning, balance…it is an open text book out there in those classic cartoons," he vouches.
In arts like painting or sculpture, what the viewer sees or interprets could be so different from what the artist had in mind. "But in cartooning, what you see is exactly what the cartoonist has in mind and wishes to say. In that sense, cartoon art is different from mainstream art. But cartooning is just as exhilarating."
In Biswajit Balasubramanian's cartoon 'Child Prodigy', on stage is the standard retinue behind a Carnatic vidwan — the nadhaswaram artiste, the ghatam artiste, and the tambura artiste; but holding centre stage is a crawling infant — cajoled to deliver a kutcheri! This is an image Chennai's kutcheri crowd didn't find bizarre, just mildly amusing. That's not because they lack a sense of humour, just that it was an imagination not too far-fetched. "I think it provoked plenty of introspection, more than the reams of words that have been written about the negatives that have cropped up in an otherwise spectacular event: it questioned with wit: Is the maarghazhi musical extravaganza getting to be more of a showmanship than a celebration," says city-based musician and psychiatrist Dr Amuda Vijaykumar. That is one of the reasons why Chennai-based Biswajit Balasubramanian is gaining reputation as a cartoon artist. His cartoons work because they are funny, and uncomfortably close to reality.
Of course, cartoons are supposed to be precisely so. But in a country where cartoonists invariably get linked to political perspectives, Biswajit remains one of the rare breed of cartoonists who thoroughly enjoys having fun at the expense of, and to the benefit of, society — raising a mirror to society, prompting reflection and introspection. That is possibly because Biswajit doesn't look at cartooning as a profession. A Saurashtrian settled in Tamil Nadu for good, he happens to be a textile yarn industrialist. "I used to doodle as a boy, and draw images from Amar Chitra Katha and other graphic novels, but never really took art seriously," he shares. After a commerce degree in the temple city of Madurai, he delved into his family's spinning business. It is much later that serious cartooning entered his life. And today, he happens to be one of the few Indian cartoonists who has exhibited his works in international gallery spaces, much like painters and sculptors.
'Child Prodigy' was not a stand-alone cartoon. Biswajit likes to explore social issues in serial frames, the way artists explore concepts. For instance, 'Madras Music Musings', Biswajit's collaboration with noted classical musician and pianist Anil Srinivasan, had several other perceptive cartoons. Like the cartoon which has an NRI rasika listening to a kutcheri streamed online and remarking, "What I really miss are Natesan's bondas and Iyer's mixture," a pun on how kutcheris are being hijacked by the canteens hosted at the sabhas themselves. There have been other collaborations too — like with writer Ranjitha Ashok in the book Chennai Latte - A Madras Brew. This artist who has had his cartoons featured on the cover page of the strictly traditional Shruti magazine, and has exhibited his cartoons at Forum Art Gallery in Chennai, Nehru Centre, London, and at Sutra Gallery in Kuala Lumpur among others, will be holding a solo show at The Cartoon Gallery in Bangalore in October.
Cartoon as commentary
"'Child Prodigy' was a fallout of something I noticed in a few of my NRI friends who come to the city every year during Chennai's December music season. But those kids were not really here on a holiday. Even toddlers had to take music lessons during their stay here," narrates Biswajit. Alongside, Biswajit also noticed that the singers on stage were getting younger and younger, and his imagination drew up 'Child Prodigy'. "It is not just me. Most cartoonists are critical observers of reality around them. We are social animals who love conversations and interactions with people. These inputs are being recorded unintentionally all the time, and they surface as cartoons," he remarks. Unlike artists of other kinds, probably cartoonists are a breed of artists who don't tend to live in their own worlds.
Curiously, this artist who likes to sketch social reality, takes inspiration from the preposterous Asterix comics. "The kind of detailing that is there in Asterix is simply amazing. For instance, even while a boisterous fight is going on among the Gaulish villagers, there would be two birds talking to each other atop a tree or a few boars commenting on the unruly villagers. Asterix's creators understood that life did not end with those on centre stage," Biswajit muses. This is an attitude Biswajit extends into his own cartooning. In most of Biswajit's cartoons, while the central characters mouth the punch line, the side characters are on their own trip, having their own encounters and conversations.
Detailing in black and white
Visually too, Biswajit likes to do a lot of detailing in his cartoons, which gives volume and depth to the image. And over the years, the lines of his cartoons have become more pronounced. "Maybe that is because I have much more confidence in myself as a person, and as a cartoonist," he quips. Is there some cartoon he would like to have done differently? "All the time. In fact, even looking at cartoons I have just finished, I get agitated by thoughts of different ways I could have handled it in," he says. Biswajit prefers cartooning in black and white. Only lately has he begun to flash a dab of water colour in his works.
"Sometimes it takes a week for a single line to materialise; sometimes, an entire cartoon springs forth in an hour. But certainly, cartooning is not as simple as scratching a few lines to sketch out a pun, as is the popular perception. It is not just an intellectual exercise, but there is a lot of technique involved too," he adds. But one can't really be taught to cartoon; it is either here in you, or isn't, believes Biswajit. Perhaps the advantageous facet about cartoon art is that you can learn so much from observation of the classic cartoons. "Composition, positioning, balance…it is an open text book out there in those classic cartoons," he vouches.
In arts like painting or sculpture, what the viewer sees or interprets could be so different from what the artist had in mind. "But in cartooning, what you see is exactly what the cartoonist has in mind and wishes to say. In that sense, cartoon art is different from mainstream art. But cartooning is just as exhilarating."