Kerala

Artists bring alive Basheer’s characters

ALL IN A LINE: The line drawings bring alive the persona and literary milieu of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s works.

No writer in Malayalam has so effortlessly succeeded in placing a wide range of characters in the minds of readers through his/her works as Vaikom Mohammed Basheer.

Basheer’s characters ‘Ettukali Mammoonh,’ ‘Ponkurishu Toma,’ ‘Kochu Thresya’ and ‘Sainaba’ are legendary. This may have prompted a group of artists, including Namboodiri, Sankarankutty and M.V. Dev an, to visualise and portray these characters in their own inimitable way.

The line-drawings of the characters and circumstances in Basheer’s works, exhibited at the Akademi Art Gallery here, bring alive the persona and the literary milieu of his works.

The exhibition of drawings is organised by the Bankmen’s Club in connection with the golden jubilee celebration of his novel Pathummayude Adu.

Most of the drawings have been done either to be used along with his works in different magazines or as the cover in magazines.

Namboodiri’s drawings portray a variety of characters and contexts such as ‘Ottakkannan Pokkar,’ ‘Anavari Raman Nair,’ ‘Muzhayan Nanu,’ ‘Driver Pappunni,’ ‘Ponkurishu Thoma,’ ‘Thorappan’ and ‘Mandan Muthappa.’

Devan has captured certain crucial moments in the author’s life such as the ‘Pennukanal Chadangu’ of Basheer and his celebrated literary characters like ‘Stalathe Pradhana Divyan.’

Some early illustrations of characters and scenes in works such as ‘Premalekhanam,’ ‘Chirikkunna Marappava,’ ‘Thara Specials’ and ‘Vishappu’ by the late artist and cartoonist Sankarankutty are another attraction at the show.

Drawings of Basheer by artist K. Shareef depict the different moods and unique dispositions of the writer on different occasions in his life.

A host of programmes, including book release, seminar, writers’ meet and staging of play, has been arranged at the Town Hall in remembrance of the renowned writer.

Jabir Mushthari

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