Walls of Fame

A stone’s throw from Bandra’s Mehboob Studios is a 22x11 feet mural of a cigarette-smoking Amitabh Bachchan from Deewar. On another wall is a mural of the 1953 period romance, Anarkali, while somewhere near Bandstand there is a mural of the late Rajesh Khanna—painted when the veteran actor passed away. The mural takes you back in time to the 70s, when Khanna’s film Anand released. This is street art at its best, where amateur graffiti sits alongside the work of professional artists.

Though it is often said that art is like caviar, as one must cultivate a taste for it, the street art of Bandra—on the other hand—seems to have found a place of respect and appreciation in everyone’s heart, especially the good ol’ folks living there. Discover the beautiful and enigmatic world of street art as you stroll down the bylanes of Bandra.

The streets are dotted with paintings that depict the dreams, hopes, aspirations, struggles, and at times even frustrations of the people behind the masterpieces. The streets of Bandra have been lending great inspiration to artists—two such artists are Ranjit Dahiya and Sachin Shetty (better known as Drift in the art scene).

Dahiya, a movie buff, has taken it upon himself to revive the dying art of hand painting through street art. Genuinely besotted with this genre, Dahiya crept into public esteem rather imperceptibly. A NID graduate and graphic designer by profession, Dahiya’s portraits of Bollywood icons on street walls in Bandra have earned him a rather large group of valiant followers.

Street art is his way of giving the suburb its filmi identity. “Street art is free and accessible to all. It is my way of giving the aam admi in Bandra a feel of the Bollywood culture here,” says the artist, who is all set to start his next project at MHADA, Andheri. Though this will require him to move out of his comfort zone, Bandra, he says, “I want to expand the reach of street art and paint walls across the city. Hence, my next project is at Andheri.”

Street Art is a challenge as well as a delight for many artists, who do not mind shelling out their own money. “The returns of street art are non-remunerative,” says Shetty, who is busy painting a wall in Chapel Street. An artist and a musician, Shetty’s work is mostly experimental. “Gone are the times when I planned for weeks what I wanted to paint.

Now it is more on impulse. I decide what has to be painted at the spot; it is very experimental,” he says.   

While Shetty falls back on collaborators to sponsor his projects, Dahiya has found an innovative way of funding his street projects. “I have been receiving requests from celebrities to hand paint walls in their homes. I use that money to fund my street art,” says the artist.