Pao Collective

They might look like a boy band re-union, but there’s a way cooler reason for these four blokes to be together and it’s standing behind them. The work of art you see is the labour of love of Amitabh Kumar, Orijit Sen, Parismita Singh, Sarnath Banerjee and Vishwajyoti Ghosh and is a part of the collective’s attempts to tell contemporary Indian stories and satires - all with a graphic pen. We didn’t say art exhibit because we didn’t want that glazed over look in your eyes. Don’t worry you aren’t uncultured, it happens to everyone, we just hide it better when we’re out with women.

The canvas is a part of an exhibition by the Pao collective (this is like the Vada Pao, not to be confused with the sound Batman made in a fist fight) which is a collective of comic book artists and others who are nutters about graphic art. And all in good time we say - the idea is something we’ve been trying to peddle for ever. Comic books and graphic art isn’t only for socially inept 30-year old nerds and children, we no longer need to look at it like a banned substance. Recent Desi graphic novellas have done a fair bit in bringing comic books and graphics out of the ghettos, the collectives seeks to do the rest. In the meantime, the guy peddling ‘vintage’ Tintins on the pavement near Chowpatty continues to make a killing.

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If you, like us came here thinking it was the POW! Collective and had the (tada tada ta da...Batman loop playing in your head) - you might take three minutes to get over your initial shock, but when you do what hangs on the walls will more then make up for it.

A lady’s brush strokes too went into making the canvas, but she’d scooted by then - leaving errr...our boy band. The exhibition will run on till the time you have the next issue of FHM into your hands at Arthouse (DLF Promenade in Delhi)

From the August 2010 issue of FHM India.