Thota Tharani’s latest exhibition, Cahiers Du Cinéma, brings film memories to canvas

Padma Shri Thota Tharani, the creative genius revered as a legend in the world of art direction, returns with his latest exhibition, Cahiers Du Cinéma (Footnotes on cinema). Known for his remarkable versatility across mediums—watercolours, pen and ink, sketches, and acrylics—Tharani now turns his gaze inward, transforming fragments of his cinematic journey into art. This evocative showcase reveals how he approaches film design, translating the spirit of the sets and the essence of his creative process into art works. Through striking black-and-white ink drawings, he brings to life real frames fashioned from discarded materials, be it old doors, window frames, chairs, or bits of roofing. Each piece carries echoes of memory and time, reminders of things once lost and now rediscovered through his art.

Thota Tharani’s Cahiers Du Cinéma showcases iconic film art and memories

For someone who has designed some of the most iconic film sets in Indian cinema, Thota Tharani speaks about his art with striking simplicity. Now gearing up for what he believes might be his 121st or 122nd exhibition, Tharani still finds ways to surprise himself. “Every show must have something new. Otherwise, why do it?” he says. Reflecting on Cahiers Du Cinéma, Tharani shares, “This idea has lived with me for decades—maybe 60 years. It holds everything I’ve seen—the nuances, the moods, the people, the atmosphere—and how all of it slowly grew within me.”

It was Patricia Thery-Hart, director of Alliance Française of Madras, who saw his sketches about a year-and-a-half ago and urged him to turn them into a show. “She asked what I would give this time. I wanted to try something new,” he says. The result is a striking mix of media—canvas layered with gada cloth, overlaid with sketch pens and colour. “I’ve never done this before. It’s a completely new technique. I like to experiment. I’ve spent years refining this, and now it’s here.”

Having witnessed the golden era of Indian cinema up close, Thota Tharani speaks with affection about the many people who worked behind the scenes—the cameramen, light boys, art directors, and countless unsung masters who shaped his world. “Everyone I met was a master,” he says with quiet reverence. “From my father (art director Thota Venkateswara Rao), and his guru AK Sekhar, to director Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, who gave me my first assignment—each encounter left its mark. Even saying Vanakkam was a big thing in those days. We didn’t have phones or cameras, so every meeting felt precious.”

It is from such memories that this new body of work emerges—a visual chronicle of craft, collaboration, and impermanence. “Many of my old works were lost over the years, but some remain, including sketches from 1982, drawn on actual film sets. I remember sitting in a studio one afternoon, surrounded by scattered pieces, when I noticed a discarded mould being prepared. Once, it had been part of an important scene; now it lay forgotten. That mould must have meant so much once—but when its purpose was served, it was simply thrown away. That thought stayed with me.” Out of that moment grew nearly 15 works in this series—an ode to what is forgotten, yet never truly lost.

Cinema, of course, is never far from Thota Tharani’s work, though he resists making direct references. “It’s not as if this came from Sivaji: The Boss’s set or that from another film. These ideas were within me long before I even began working, back when I used to accompany my father. I didn’t realise they were there, but when I started painting, they began to surface.”

The present exhibition stands apart for its stark, meditative palette, black and white ink. “On set, I used whatever was around, be it pencils or pens. Many are gone now, but I digitised 69. When I reprinted them, they looked exactly as they did in 1967. The essence stayed.”

When asked which among the pieces is closest to his heart, pat comes the reply. “Every piece equally, dear. If I don’t love it, I tear it up.”

His creative process, too, is unforced. “I put the canvas in front of me, and it just happens. Over time, I learned two things— either you waste time staring at a blank canvas, or you understand your subject so well that the application becomes effortless. When you know your subject, painting is simple.”

Entry free. October 31 to November 14.10 am to 6 pm.

At Alliance Française of Madras, Nungambakkam.

sangeetha.p@newindianexpress.com

X- @psangeetha2112

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