‘Biennale is One Whole Experience of Art’: Vidhu Vinod Chopra

KOCHI:
Describing his first visit to the Kochi-Muziris Biennale as a “release from the box of cinema”, renowned Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra said the international contemporary art gala was a fount of expression and inspiration.
“I live my life totally obsessed and possessed with cinema. For me to come out of my comfort zone and look at other art forms outside of cinema was fascinating and inspiring. It is like somebody who usually has only rice and dal being served great Kerala fish curry,” Chopra said.
Following a guided tour of Aspinwall House with his wife, noted film critic Anupama Chopra, on Wednesday, the 1942: A Love Story director said, “I’ve been to art galleries and exhibitions abroad. But the charm of this Biennale is that it is in a great setting outside of sterile spaces like museums. I was taking it all in. I wasn’t classifying or differentiating between one fascinating artwork and another. For me, it was one whole experience of art. I feel proud.”
Chopra, who has produced and screen-written for a number of India’s highest-grossing films like Munnabhai MBBS, 3 Idiots and PK, said he was fascinated by the “jigsaw puzzle” nature of the Go Playces interactive installation by graphic artist Orijit Sen.
The interactive exhibit was also appreciated by Anupama, who noted that the “Biennale leaves a deep impression even on people who are not well read on art”.
“I’m fascinated by all of these because this is my first time to a biennal
e like this. I don’t know much about art and I am not well versed in it, but the visit left me with so many impressions that I am going to take away and digest,” she said.
Anupama, whose debut book Sholay: The Making of a Classic won a National Film Award in 2000, said she was especially moved by Chilean poet revolutionary Raúl Zurita’s Sea of Pain.
“It really hits the visitor hard. Today, all of us are immune to images because we consume lot of pictures every day. We all saw the image of Aylan Kurdi and we responded. But Zurita’s poetic work hits the right chord. I also loved the Sound Portraits by Miller Puckette,” she said.