Polar bear ride, anyone?

If you are Hetal Shukla, your cars could look like a polar bear, a temple or whatever catches your fancy. But that doesn’t mean that the Mumbai-based graphic artist gives these bizarre makeovers to his Ambassador car just to grab eyeballs.

If you are Hetal Shukla, your cars could look like a polar bear, a temple or whatever catches your fancy. But that doesn’t mean that the Mumbai-based graphic artist gives these bizarre makeovers to his Ambassador car just to grab eyeballs. Each makeover comes with an underlying message. His Ambey-se-Darr temple car makeover, for instance, happened after he was forced to pay for a

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darshanam

in a temple. “It’s a satire on what will happen if the future MBAs enter the business of God. They will surely have mobile temples at your service,” he says. Shukla’s polar bear Ambassador car also carries a poignant message: Just like the animal, Ambassador is becoming extinct too.

Shukla says that he looks at cars as art installations. “My art is a reflection of what’s happening around me. Whenever I observe something different and beguiling going around me, I feel like giving it a final look by placing the thoughts on my car. Because of its mobility factor, car is the best medium, as you can showcase your art to maximum number of people.”

Shukla’s car, after the makeover, creates quite a stir when it’s out on the road. “It delights me to notice people’s attention while driving on roads. The makeovers have made my cars quite a public figure,” he says. “My cars are also conversation starters. I remember someone from a Rolls Royce knock my window just to say he loves my car.”