Bollywood’s poster child

Ranjit Dahiya is a self-confessed Bollywood fanatic. So when he arrived in Mumbai in 2008, home to the Hindi film industry, he was a little let down when he realised the lack of visual representation to document Bollywood. A few years later, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He started the Bollywood Art Project (BAP) in 2012 to represent iconic Bollywood stars on the city’s walls, using the classic hand-painted style, previously used in Bollywood posters

Ranjit first took up a job as a whitewasher at the age of 17, when he decided to quit college. He realised his interest in painting when a schoolteacher asked him to paint an image of Goddess Saraswati. He recalls, “I couldn’t stay at home since I had quit studies. I started whitewashing walls to earn some money. It was when I drew the 6 by 4 feet mural of Goddess Saraswati that I realised I could paint.”

Keen on making a living as an artist, he pursued his degree from the Govt. College of Fine Art Chandigarh, and Masters from National Institute of Design in Chandigarh. “I think my parents were finally relieved to see me doing something worthwhile with my life!” he laughs.

A degree in a field of your choice doesn’t necessarily mean happiness in itself. Ranjit learnt this as he took up a corporate job with a startup as a graphic designer. “I realised that a corporate job wasn’t my cup of tea. I got too stagnant. That’s when the idea of painting Bollywood icons across city walls struck me.”

Armed with a shoe-polish brush and the necessary permissions, he painted Anarkali, at Chapel Road in Bandra, a posh suburb in Mumbai. He says, “The poster evoked a lot of memories in people. A woman came up to me and told me that the poster reminded her of the first time she watched a movie in the theatre with her husband!” Impressed with his first mural, an artist later invited him to showcase his exhibition in Paris.

The iconic scene from the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Deewar, where the actor sat on a chair with his feet on the table, and a beedi in his mouth, was the next mural he painted in Mumbai. However, it was his 2014 project where he painted the prominently visible mural of Dadasaheb Phalke, on the MTNL building in Bandra, that garnered him his much deserved attention. He says, “That mural defined me. When people ask me about my work, all I have to do is remind them about the Dadasaheb Phalke mural in Bandra — people always recognise it.”

Delhi and Chennai also bear imprints of his work. Ranjit painted a mural of Nadira, best known for her role as a temptress in Shree 420. Having spent a few years in Delhi, the artiste says this is his attempt to “empower women”. He says, “Women in Delhi are often branded as easy-going because they smoke! This is far from the truth. A woman smokes because she wants to, not because she wants to invite attention. I chose Nadira because this character doesn’t succumb to societal pressures. I think Nadira was apt to represent the women in Delhi.”

Rajesh Khanna, Amrish Puri, Vyjayanthimala are among a few names that he has immortalised through his project. Next on his list are Dilip Kumar and Kishore Kumar. While he was asked to go packing when he started painting Helen in Mumbai, he hasn’t given up on the idea. He shares, “I had all the permissions necessary but a lady told me I could go ahead with the project only if I cough up '50,000. Yahan khane ke laale pad gaye the, mai kya paisa doon unhe (I couldn’t afford to pay up) Helen has been so important to Indian cinema. I’m going to start working on it as soon as I zero in on the perfect place for the project.”