Ode to two eastern giants

Sheena Sippy might not be a Kapoor or a Bachchan but she is nothing short of royalty when it comes to the world of Hindi cinema. She is the daughter of Ramesh Sippy, the man who has unarguably created one of Indian cinema greatest film, Sholay. Visual brilliance is almost a part of genetic makeup and it's against this information that one views her photographs clicked during the making of her father's recent production, Chandni Chowk to China.



And Sheena Sippy doesn't disappoint. ‘Cine Indo Chine' is a journey that might have started with along the making of Chandni Chowk to China but the destination this effort reaches is a heads and shoulders above the film. Although it was teamed with the making of the ambitious film, this exhibition isn't a mere chronicle of the production of the film. ‘Cine Indo Chine' is a far more personal account of the two historic nations that some how got connected during the filming. Sippy's note at the very onset of the exhibition reveals the thought behind the venture. Upon viewing the imagery one not only understands the artist's mind but also lives the moment that have been evocatively put together.



Sippy juxtaposes India's Chandni Chowk seamlessly with life in Shanghai--two completely dissimilar civilizations that have come a long way and yet some how end up looking like long-lost brothers. Her imagery isn't what traditional photography tends to be; these aren't moments that sparked similarity upon being looked through the viewfinder. Rather Sippy painstakingly puts together the images long after they were clicked. Unlike anything that she has done before, Sippy, in her own words says the "series gave her the opportunity of afterthought, the excitement of paying tribute to the cinematic process".



Shot alongside the film in India and China, this parallax view offered Sippy a great opportunity to connect the two worlds by means of a visual dialogue. Viewing India and China through her lens, Sippy's images partake on a childish satisfaction that comes with connecting the dots or completing a puzzle. Images from the two worlds placed side by side, this feeling of connection is best conveyed from the one that has men from Chandni Chowk occupying the top half of the frame and looking down on the lower half that has Chinese women. All the selections such as bricks on the walls of the fabled walled city of Delhi running parallel with the bricked walls of Shanghai, a woman resting inside a Chinese taxi while Indian bicycles dot the narrow lanes convey this constructed afterthought of two worlds ‘Hurtling towards similar destinies on different paths'. Sheena Sippy's ‘Cine Indo Chine' is nothing short of structured brilliance.


The author is an entertainment news editor and works for many websites related to event, bollywood, music, movie, concerts and theater. Visit one more interesting article of author: Pandit Ulhas Bapat or visit: http://www.buzzintown.com/artistes_type--artist_pandit-ulhas-bapat--id_40.html