WHEN the going gets tough, the tough become silent. At least that appears to be M F Husain’s guiding principle. In the face of the controversy over his latest offering, Meenaxi—A Tale of Three Cities, Husain shut off his cell, let son Owais deal with the paparazzi and went off on Mission Meenaxi. Four days later, clad in an all white trouser-jacket-shirt ensemble, the white haired wonder has switched his mobile on and is smiling for cameras again in Mumbai. ‘‘I have found out that the film’s acceptance was not hampered by the entire group of the Ulema Council of Muslim Clerics,’’ says the 88-year-old artist post-mission. Then leaning forward with a conspiratorial air, he adds, ‘‘Only a few maulvis in Bhindi Bazaar were raising objections at the behest of someone who was more interested in having the film show abroad (hence the ban in India),’’ says the artist, refusing to reveal names. Of course, this isn’t the first time the painter was caught in a controversy. Remember the vandalising of his 1998 exhibition in Ahmedabad which had one of the godesses painted in the buff? Or the time he kicked up a row over the pathetic condition of the Indira Gandhi Collection or when he declared one of the works at an auction in the UK a fake? ‘‘Anyway now that I have decided to let the film run, I’m more interested in moving on to newer projects,’’ says Husain who earlier paid celluloid tribute to muse Madhuri Dixit in the self indulgent Gajagamini. Husain has always been a prolific artist. In fact, the painter has two back-to-back events chalked onto his clean slate. The first stop is an exhibition of prints at a Mumbai gallery. Variety is the spice of life for this energetic octogenarian. So prints are always a welcome break, even though Husain is known to work mainly with acrylics. The second project is two murals dedicated to cricket. Measuring 38x6 and 35x8 feet, they were unveiled at Mumbai’s swank Polly Umrigar Sports Bar in Cricket Club India (CCI) on April 22. Here too Husain doesn’t fail to surprise: ‘‘Actually I hate cricket. But it takes an outsider to bring in fresh perspective. It took the Greeks to come up with a successful image of Buddha,’’ he argues. His successful take on cricket? Add Madhuri Dixit to the ensemble of players, the rest is elementary. Husain finished the mural in a matter of 6 to 8 hours, working through the night after the match was won. Let’s just say he loves to feed off his crazy energy that shows no signs of flagging. It seems the artist lives from one project to another. In fact, he plans to hit us with his next show in a couple of months. Dedicated to the 20th century, it shall be be a portrait gallery of significant figures in history. ‘‘From the Wright brothers to the first man on the moon, I want to picture how these events affected the life of an Indian like myself.History from your side of the world,’’ he says. Tea over it’s time to leave again, although Husain never drains his tea cup. Maybe because he’s always got to get somewhere for the next event.
