Each of the 15 acrylic on canvas paintings, at Nilofer Suleman’s exhibition titled, Sulemani Chai, tell a story. The Bangalore-based artist believes that inspiration lurks at every street corner waiting to be discovered, in the ‘chai kadas’, the barbers, old Hindi movie posters, wall-hung Ravi Varma’s oleographs and in the excessiveness of painted trucks.
Among the characters in the paintings are Ramlal Pardesi, Tiger Murugesh, the seductress Kaanan Bala, the rogue Josi Kutti and the vamp Susy Mallama.
“Gods and cinema is what lies at the core of every Indian heart, perhaps reflective of hope. As Indians, what comes most naturally to us is storytelling. My paintings attempt to weave a narrative as I try to recognise the hope that exists in the seemingly mundane everyday life,” says Suleman.