Thota Tharani revisits magic of Cinema in his latest art show

Veteran artist and art director Thota Tharani has never been one to repeat himself. Each of his exhibitions becomes a new exploration of form, memory, and imagination. Over the years, he has delved into everything from watercolours to expansive canvases and intimate sketches. His latest show, Footnotes on Cinema, brings together more than 25 paintings that celebrate the golden years of Indian cinema. The works capture the magic of old film sets, lighting, and camera crews, presented in frames made from repurposed materials such as vintage doors, window frames, chairs, and roofing panels.

“If my memory is correct, I started accompanying my father, Thota Venkateswara Rao, who was an art director, to studios and film sets when I was about four years old. As a child, I would run around and watch film production unfold. When I came home, I would take a piece of chalk from my mother and start drawing; once I even enlarged a Buddha statue on the floor. My father noticed this and brought me Mehta drawing books with freehand designs and line drawings. All this happened when I was around four or five years old,” recalls Thota Tharani.

While studying at Dominic Savio, his teacher often asked him to draw on the board for his classmates to copy. “That was a wonderful time. I remember one incident clearly. My friend Ajmal Khan once stayed back with me during lunch time while everyone else had gone to eat. I was drawing a caricature of a man driving a car, using chalk - chalk drawing was a weakness of mine back then. After finishing, we washed our hands and shared a mutton puff he had brought from home. When the others returned, we watched them try to copy my drawing. It was a proud moment. That was an important phase in my life. Now, after about 55 years in the film industry, looking back at those memories makes me very happy,” he smiles.

While studying at Dominic Savio, his teacher often asked him to draw on the board for his classmates to copy. "That was a wonderful time. I remember one incident clearly.My friend Ajmal Khan once stayed back with me during lunch time while everyone else had gone to eat. I was drawing a caricature of a man driving a car, using chalk – chalk draw-ing was a weakness of mine back then. After finishing, we washed our hands and shared a mutton puff he had brought from home. When the others returned, we watched them try to copy my drawing. It was a proud moment. That was an important phase in my life. Now, after about 55 years in the film industry, looking back at those memories makes me very happy," he smiles.

Over the decades, Tharani has created countless sketches and paintings. Many of those early drawings have now been reimagined as large-scale artworks for this exhibition. “None of the works here is related to any particular film. They are not replicas of original sets, but artistic reinterpretations inspired by the world of cinema,” he clarifies.

Tharani says that, more than his father, it was art director GV Subba Rao from whom he learned a great deal. “In fact, my younger brother, who was also an art director, introduced me to the finer details of the craft. I was always more of a painter, and my sketches were realistic. I used to do elevation drawings with ink and paper. Later, GV Subba Rao taught me about perspective and design. I knew many art directors who would call and ask what I was working on. When I visited my father’s film sets, one thing always stood out he never used expensive materials. He created beauty out of the simplest things,” he recalls.

“This ongoing exhibition is really about nostalgia. I have translated my memories of films onto canvas, capturing the essence of Indian cinema. I have worked very hard all my life and always given my best to every project entrusted to me,” concludes the art director. The exhibition is on till November 14 at the Alliance Française of Madras.