Time Out at 40

Salman Rushdie | Amitabh Bachchan | MF Husain | Zubin Mehta

MF Hussain

MF Husain
Maqbool Fida Husain is a deity in the holy trinity of modern Indian art. In the late 1940s, soon after independence from the British, Husain and his friends FN Souza and SH Raza, formed the Progressive Artists’ Group, which set out to create art that rejected their European academic training and was uniquely Indian. Today, 93-year-old Husain lives in exile in London and Dubai because Hindu fundamentalist groups claim that his nude paintings of religious figures are offensive. But his bold paintings and his often bolder appreciation of Bollywood beauties have ensured that MF Husain is among the most celebrated figures in Indian art.

When did you come to Mumbai?
I came to Mumbai when I was 19 years old from Indore [in central India]. I came because I knew I was going to be a painter and if I wanted to really do it, then I would have to come to Mumbai. So I came here, struggled, painted cinema hoardings. No one paid any attention to me at first. I had a gold medal from Indore but it didn’t matter. Indore was too small for anyone to take seriously. Then in 1947, a few of us painters formed the Progressive Artists' Group. When independence was coming to the country, we felt independence should come to art as well.

What do you think set the Progressives apart?
India had been under foreign domination for so long and it really destroyed our culture. But what we [the Progressives] did was say that we don’t want your French school and all that. We had our own language. My language, my culture, especially back then, was what is really Indian. It was a sense of India that evolved from the roots. Feature continues

Do you feel any differently about the city or the country ever since cases were lodged against you, accusing your art of obscenity?
I don’t feel any different about anything. I don’t have any problems just because a few people don’t understand or have sense of modern art. I’m like a folk painter. I’m still working.

What made you stay on in Mumbai?
Mumbai was my base and I like to think it always will be. I used to travel around the country before. Then I got to travel around the world. I worked in Paris and London and anywhere, really. But Mumbai was always the base.

What do you miss of the city?
A cup of tea from one of those Irani cafes.
Interview Deepanjana Pal

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Salman Rushdie | Amitabh Bachchan | MF Husain | Zubin Mehta