Here’s a chance to see politicos in a new light — Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi are the subjects of a caricature exhibition in the city.
“Caricature is the satirical illustration of a person,” explains Wikipedia, quoting Indian cartoonist S Jitesh. The city is playing host to one such caricature exhibition, and the subjects are none other than our very own prime minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress party boss, Sonia Gandhi.
The exhibition is the culmination of a contest that began four months ago, when the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, in collaboration with the VR Deshpande Memorial Trust, invited entries for a political caricature contest from across the globe— and they chose PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
But why only Singh and Gandhi? VG Narendra from Indian Institute of Cartoonists said, “The two are extremely popular with cartoonists around the world.” The contest received as many as 625 entries for both categories alike. “We received entries from China, Bulgaria, France, USA, Brazil, Poland, and of course, from nearly every state in India,” he said.
Narendra said that the foreign cartoonists gave stiff competition to their Indian counterparts. “In fact, an Iranian artist, Vahid Jafari, from Tehran City, won the first prize in the Manmohan Singh category. And there were other prize winners from Brazil and Bulgaria, too,” he said.
While cartoons illustrate an idea and always have a potent commentary, caricatures, explained Narendra, “are sketches that have visual resemblance to the chosen subject. But the artist portrays the character in his own way by either exaggerating or distorting the essence of that individual”. So even if the caricature carries an underlying political comment, they are always a safer bet in comparison to political cartoons, as it is seldom politically incorrect, he said.
Well, they still provide entertainment, tickle the funny bone, and give the audience an opportunity to escape from the monotony of life.
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