Writings on the Wall

Angad Bhalla and Siddhartha Luther's Writings on the Wall profiles three street artists in India who ply their talents on various public backdrops. Azad is a painter who occasionally does promotional work for films by creating billboard-sized ads. One of the thousands of people living in an illegal shantytown-like Delhi settlement, Azad has watched his community disappear as bulldozers, sent by powerful politicians, not only destroy living spaces but his art as well. In Bombay, Ashok—a member of the tribal minority known as the Warli—continues an art form (creating stick-figure wall paintings) that would otherwise die out. And in Madras, artist and former gang member G Mani paints his name on posters of a movie star whose fan club he heads up, while also dreaming of one day embarking on a political career. An interesting slice of life portrait of three artists for whom, as the DVD jacket says, “public walls hold the most private hopes,” this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)