Whether he’s in India or Dubai, there’s just no slowing down MF Hussain. From topping the recent Christie’s sale where his Untitled Woman and Horses fetched a record $441,600 to doing his bit for the Mumbai Police, his itinerary has been full. But after more than a year in Dubai, his diary finally has its most anticipated entry a trip to India.
Ever since he left the country in the wake of the controversy surrounding his depiction of Bharat Mata, Hussain has been regularly haunted by queries about his return. Last December he was expected for an exhibition in Kolkata but he finally couldn’t keep his promise. But this time, he vows, it’ll be different.
"Yes, I was supposed to return to India in December but it couldn’t happen because of some commitments I had in Dubai. There’s no warrant against me, is there?
It’s not as if I have committed a murder. People who can’t understand art have created the whole problem. Art is a visual science and you need the capacity to appreciate it. I am definitely coming to India in a week or two," he says with unflappable cool.
The timing of his visit coincides with a special campaign being run by the Mumbai Police called ‘Let’s Make Mumbai Unbreakable’. "Police Commissioner AN Roy asked me to paint something specially for the campaign. It was a brilliant idea. I didn’t want any elitist interpretation, so I created something that the man on the street would appreciate and be attracted to," he explains.
The result is a map of India that also takes the shape of a young girl, which of course, is his latest muse, Amrita Rao. "Da Vinci chose to immortalise Mona Lisa it was his choice to do so. Amrita Rao is my muse. Eleven years ago, it was Madhuri. Why I chose them is because they both epitomise Indian culture and values. If a painter is just looking for a beautiful woman, there’s no dearth of them all over the world. But there will always be something missing."
The work has been put up as a billboard across Mumbai, part of the effort by 18 Indian artists. The painting itself will be auctioned and proceeds will go for the welfare of the families of Mumbai policemen.
Hussain will probably be going back to Dubai for another exhibition he’s holding on February 28 titled ‘Influences of India’; which explores 5000 years of Indian culture set in a modern context.
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