Flipping the pages of a Tamil journal recently, my mind went back to my school days, when magazines had illustrations by artists, who eventually became legends. These artists reigned supreme from the 1950s to 1970s.
Can we imagine Kalki’s Ponniyin Selvan or Devan’s Mr. Vedantham or Kalaimani’s Tillana Mohanambal sans artists such as Maniyam and Gopulu? Maniam’s Vanthiya Thevan, Kunthavai, Arulmozhi Varman, Pazhuvettaraiyar and Nandini can be recognised by the distinct features he bestowed on them.
Simha was known for his unique illustrations
Much of the fizz would have been absent without the art work of Gopulu and Kalaimani for Sriman Sudharsanam, Komalam, Thuppariyum Sambu, Shanmugasundaram, Mohana and Vaithi. Gopulu also used to make wonderful line drawings and cartoons at that time in Ananda Vikatan . Sridhar, another artist, used to make catchy, comic characters in Ananda Vikatan. He was also a writer contributing articles under the pseudonym ‘Marina.’
Varnam
Apart from these popular ones, there were other players too. They emerged later and made their presence felt. For instance, R. Natarajan, who almost followed K. Madhavan’s style of work to excel in portraits. Chitralekha invariably focused his art work on historical and mythological characters. His works were delicate and beautiful. Bapu, a multifaceted personality made wonderful line drawings for writer Ellarvi’s series Vetrilai Surul in Kalaimagal. His drawings communicated the actions more vividly in crisp and sharp lines. His stand alone paintings are still popular among his fans.
Simha was another unique illustrator whose works showed men and women who were special, handsome and beautiful. His illustrations for Rajam Krishnan’s prize novel Malargal in Ananda Vikatan showed Chitra, Mangalam, Madhavan, Nirmala and Visalam in different moods.
Vinu’s image
Elite combo
Writer Maniyan and artist Maya made a great combination. Maya’s illustrations of men and women were highly modern, sophisticated and demure for Maniyan’s ‘Kadhalithal Poduma’ and ‘Idhaya Veenai.’ Sarathy created impressive characters through Tha. Na. Kumaraswami’s novel, Veettu Pura in Ananda Vikatan . Later, he started drawing cartoons in Tuglak .
Varnam’s artwork was once exclusive to Kumudam . He brought alive the characters of ace writers such as SAP, Ra.Ki Rangarajan and Ja.Ra. Sundaresan. In Kalki , Vinu and Kalpana embellished the novels of Na. Parthasarathy ( Kurinji Malar ) and Ki Rajendran ( Pyshco Saranathan ), etc. While Vinu’s figures were attractive, Kalpana’s were more straight and strong. Latha’s glamorous pictures were apt accompaniment for Chandilyan’s seductive narrations were once Kumudam’s USP. S. Balu, was another talented artist, whose photographs, like wash drawings, were significant in Kumudam , when Sujatha’s first novels Nylaan Kayiru and Anita Ilam Manaivi were serialised. He became popular in the magazine circuit and his illustrations for Indira Parthasarathy’s Veshangal in Kalki were remarkable. Even artists such as Rezak, Ramu, Umapathy, Natanam, GK Murthy and Sami have contributed through their appealing works.
Shilpi was unparalleled for his depiction of deities and sculptures. Although they had their areas of specialisation, these artists were amazingly versatile. The best example was Gopulu, who could handle serious content and comic strips with the same ease. Remember, artists in those days did not have the sophisticated equipment available for the artists these days. It was the era of black and white. They relied on their hands and the strokes they could make on the canvas or paper. But they shared a rapport with the writer. And went that extra mile to capture the essence of the story or episode through their art. Perhaps this collaboration made their work immortal.
Gopulu’s art
Today, the illustrations for stories come with a mix of modern and traditional styles leaving the reader to make his own inferences. Agreed, illustration is an integral part of storytelling. And Tamil classics are still remembered as much for the pictures as for the stories. In that case is it not fair enough to give due credit to these artists, who played a significant role in success story of the original? I personally wish the publishers of such novels consider these aspects while bringing them out as books.
As a parting shot, I want to pose a question: Do we have anything, in recent history, close to Jeyaraj’s ‘Appusami’ and ‘Seetha Patti’ — the couple with the same facial features?
