Bollywood Divas - An Art Exhibition on Bollywood's women of substance at Phoenix Marketcity Bangalore

Events in Bangalore - Bollywood Divas - An Art Exhibition on Bollywood's women of substance at Phoenix Marketcity Bangalore from 1 to 12 July 2015, 11:00 am to 9:00 pm

They have strived, they have transformed - Inspiration to lacs of Indian Women! “Bollywood Divas” - Launch of art exhibition on Bollywood's women of substance at Phoenix MarketCity Bangalore

This exhibition is divided into four periods: 1940-1960, 1961-1980, 1981-2000, and 2001-2015. Each period has presented its own brand of women in Hindi cinema.

In today’s Modern India, role of a woman has changed drastically compared to old times. Women are seen with more respect. They are managing their professional & personal lives successfully. They are playing a vital role in economic support system. Indian Cinema has beautifully captured the changing role of women through films. Movies are the mirror of changes in social structure and vice versa. I thought of curating an exhibition of creative portraits of Bollywood’s women of substance who have played a vital role in changing the representation of women in cinema. These leading ladies, in spite of Hero centric environment, ruled the box office and million hearts. They are evergreen. These Heroines have made their parents and society proud. They are inspiration to lacs of Indian women.

In one hundred and three years of burgeoning film production in India, we have seen handful of noteworthy ‘women-centric’films. While Hero has ruled cinema for decades and commanded much fatter paycheques, women have mainly played decorative objects in Hindi cinema for a long time. Or, even in films where they had important roles, they are more victims or victimizers of other women. Rarely have films like No one Killed Jessica, Damini, Shakti, Mrityudand ,Kahaani, Queen etc., and presented women as strong women who can raise their voice against injustice, who can rebel in their own way and make their own socio-political statement. In most films the leading ladies have much shorter lived careers during which they are confined to the stereotypes like a good mother, a loving wife, a respectful daughter/sister and she must do it all looking beautiful! She is always necessary but hardly on centre stage. But still, there are Divas who have made their mark. They have left us awestruck with their powerhouse performances. Their beauty and brain have ruled millions of people. They have ignited male fantasy. “Bollywood Divas” is a tribute to these Divas. Four artists from Gujarat have ‘creatively’ created portraits of popular Film Heroines of different eras. This exhibition is divided into four periods: 1940-1960, 1961-1980, 1981-2000, and 2001-2015. Each period has presented its own brand of women in Hindi cinema.

1940-1960: Nargis, Geeta Bali, Vaijyantimala, Madhubala & Meena Kumari – Artist: Sukhdev Rathod
1961-1980: Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaaz, Zeenat Aman, Hema Malini & Rekha – Artist: Sanjay Rajwar
1981-2000: Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Karisma Kapoor & Aishwarya Rai – Artist: Saumya Pandya Thakkar
2001-2015: Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Vidhya Balan, Priyanka Chopra & Deepika Padukone – Artist: Jaldip Chauhan

Art is one of the most powerful tools of visual communication and probably that is why it is said, “A picture speaks thousand words”. Through this exhibition we will showcase Power of Bollywood Heroines through creative portraits. It will be a ‘first of its kind’ exhibition which will focus on “Womanhood” and not on “Woman as merely an object”. The paintings will have SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES which will HIT viewers’ subconscious minds to change the perception about heroines of Bollywood.