Andhra Pradesh

‘I grew up watching drama’

Thota Vaikuntam

They say if you want to know more about Telangana, its people, culture and traditions, then watch paintings and sketches of Thota Vaikuntam, who has portrayed the lives of women from Telangana in his impeccable sketches. Born in a trader’s family at Boorugapalli of Karimnagar, the 67-year-old artist has conducted countless exhibitions and bagged numerous awards, including national and international.

Be it the sketch of a woman watching her image in a mirror or a woman holding her baby on shoulders, all the 3000-odd sketches are master pieces. “I grew up watching puppet shows, dramas and traditional art forms in my village and they had a lasting impact on me. Every artist needs some sort of inspiration and for me, it is my culture and tradition,” says the artist.

Beginning from charcoal to oil and 3D, he has worked with all types of colour formats and enjoys working with earthen colours.

It all begun in his childhood days, when he was first taught the basics of drawings by his school teacher Rama Chary. “In my early days, Lord Hanuman and Bheema were my heroes and I used to draw their paintings using charcoal. One day, my teacher bought a set of water colours and introduced me to colours and there was no looking back,” he says with a tinge of pride in his eyes.

Not confining himself to paintings and exhibitions, he also worked as art director with film director V. Narsing Rao for Telugu films. He even bagged the national best art director award for the film ‘Daasi’.

As a tutor at Jawahar Bal Bhavan, he taught the nitty-gritty of art to many young artists and continues to inspire many.

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