A designer of experiments

A painting, photograph, comic strip, an animation film or a computer special effect... I see all these as a part of a big canvas and a progression of the basic inspiration. The influx of technology in computer design and animation can bring in a sea change in the grammar of cinema and its narrative, Trotsky Marudhu, artist and designer tells K. Ramachandran

THE 48-YEAR-OLD artist's zest for creativity is infectious. The bug bit him quite early. Inspiration came to him from all directions. His grandfather and granduncle were Tamil cinema technicians.

``Madurai's Goripalayam where I grew up had the right ambience. The people, temples, book stalls, `Regal' cinema which used to feature MGM and other animation films and classics... all had a great influence on me. So even while watching the classics, I would look for and identify the hand-painted parts of the big sets in the Classics. My father, who was a committed Trotskyist (and named him after the Leftist idol) recognised my talents early and fostered it by getting books and materials on drawing and painting,'' he recalls.

The way cinema - both of the animated and classics variety - can depict motion and emotions dynamically, fascinates him. ``Slowly, I learnt about animation and the work of the artists behind the making of the films. Horror films initially frightened me, but later, the art work attracted me. Similarly, comic strips too. All these were sources for my imagination.''

The youngster later joined Chennai's College of Art, where in seven years, his teachers helped him to bloom fully, though not many shared his interests in animation.

That was the time, Trotsky Marudhu saw the experimental stages of Indian painting art forms. This and the influence of photography and poster culture gave great changes, as did the works of artists like Heinz Edelmann of Germany, Poland's Jan Lenica and America's Milton Glaser. ``I identified myself with the movements they spawned. Similarly, other art forms too influenced my work,'' he adds.

As a student, there was an interlude during the anti- Hindi agitation. ``I worked for the Dravidian parties by painting on huge walls for the 1967 election. Later, it helped me to over the fear of big canvasses.''

In the '70s, he worked for small magazines as designer and artist. Most of the artists at that time, believed in depicting an event in the story. He took a different line. ``I would read the story and depict the effect it had on me, sometimes abstractly.''

Even later, while working with the Weavers Service Centre in Vijayawada (creating designs for handlooms) and as artist- designer in popular Tamil magazines, Trotsky Marudhu's passion for collecting books on cinema, animation films and classic film makers continued. This was the time the concept of `special effects' was changing in films. But even, they were basically artistic creations. Several like Marudhu saw the possibilities that computer-based animations and digital art could open up for cinema. ``It is not merely small bits of magic or trick shots. The effects can be used even in ordinary and realistic story narratives.''

He has worked for hundreds of ad-films and in the eighties with some feature films for certain scenes.

Meanwhile, his experimentation continued. He participated in `camps' for young children through Don Bosco Communication centre, for creating small but defining animation films.

Meanwhile, the great tool of the digital age - Computer - arrived. In 1990, using a primitive computer, he created small effects. Then there has been no looking back. Marudhu is one of the pioneers in using computer for painting/animation.

Now, he sees great possibilities for change. Technology has changed but not the techniques of cinema narrative. In 3 to 5 years, he feels, the digital revolution in art will change cinema's grammar. No longer would many technicians be involved. An inspired group of five or six can create new dynamic films. The existing `barriers', if one can say so, like production and distribution will all vanish. Trotsky Marudhu points out that already the Japanese and French artists are doing this: talented persons producing dynamic, high quality animation films.

The artist himself has worked as art director for a few films and now two more are on hand.

Still, the man, who people recognise only through drawings, paintings and caricatures in Tamil magazines, has a dream that hopefully would fulfil his thirst for experimentation: working on a full-length film independently.

``Fantasy cannot remain in galleries. It should go to the people,'' Trotsky Marudhu says.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Villivakkam canal, a health hazard
Next     : Making waves at sea