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 Whichever medium you see it on, the make-up should be natural on the dancer: Brij Mohan Gupta - Shveta Arora e-mail: shwetananoop@gmail.com Photos courtesy: Brij Mohan Gupta November 23, 2018 A dancer on the stage depicts a romantic scene between the nayak and the nayika. She expresses her love through her eyes and sensuousness through her lips as they tremble. As the nayak pulls her towards him, her face lights up, her cheeks radiant. And then, in the next scene, we see a nritta piece, in which the feet of the dancer move across the stage in different movements. It's as if the alta-reddened feet are a different entity altogether in this piece of dance. The hastas, the hand gestures are used to depict certain animate and inanimate objects, each finger beautifully made up to be seen by a house full of spectators. And then you wonder, who is this make-up artist who has made the dancer look so beautiful, and so expressive. Brij Mohan Gupta is a make-up artist very well-known in dance circles for his expertise. During a recent talk with photographer Avinash Pasricha, I learnt that Brij Mohan Gupta has made up many dancers for his photographs too. Brij Mohan, who has worked with dancers, theatre artists and others for decades, worked as a make-up artist with Doordarshan television, and now freelances. Slide show Photos courtesy: Brij Mohan Gupta Make-up in all photos is by Brij Mohan Gupta 
When did you develop an interest in make-up and when did you start doing make-up for dancers? Ramlila is actually my first love. DCM Cloth Mills had a big Parsi theatre when I was a child. When I was studying in Class VI, I started doing the Ramlila at DCM - the roles of monkeys, rakshasas etc. I was also the prompter, so even the Ramlila that hadn't been included, it was all written down in my hand, and so I remembered it all - prompting was my job. I have done all the roles in the Ramlila. Gradually, I started working with Mohan Lal, who worked as a make-up artist there. When I turned 18, I started working as a make-up artist in Doordarshan, alongside my studies. The DCM Ramlila declined, gradually, and then we went to the Ashok Vihar Phase 1 Ramlila. We started that. After that, in Ashok Vihar's Phase II, they used to do an Urdu Ramlila, and the Ramlila we started doing there was based on shudh Vyas gayaki, with elements of Parsi theatre. Then, a few businessmen shifted to Shalimar Bagh and started the Ramlila there in 1983. I've been doing make-up at that Ramlila since then. There's a proper Vyas gaddi there, and the Ramlila is in Parsi shaili. It has won a few awards too. When did the association with dancers begin? I have been associated with Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan since 1976 and I still work with her. I have retired from Doordarshan, and am a freelancer now. What are the things you keep in mind while doing make-up for a dancer - the form, the concept etc, or are there other considerations? What inputs do you get from the dancer? Professionally, the first thing is the facial anatomy. Secondly, dance make-up is done according to the expressions for that form found on ancient sculptures in temples. Thirdly, it depends on whether it is a nritta piece or an abhinaya piece. Of course, I get inputs from the dancer about the make-up, the nature of the presentation etc. before the performance. What is it that is specifically enhanced in the face? A dancer does not have any words to express. It is the areas of vibrations on the face that are to be enhanced, like the eyes, lips, cheeks etc., so that the expressions become visible to the audience. Do you also work on the hands and the feet? That depends on the dancer. Some want alta on their feet for shringar. But first, you have to match the tone of the skin on the hands and the feet to that of the face. For that, you apply make-up on the hands and the feet. If this make-up is not applied, the facial make-up will look excessive - matching make-up on the hands and the feet reduces the intensity of that on the face. Could you tell us a little about the products you use? Earlier, all our material was Indian. But imported brands are available in India, especially the professional brands. From among those, the best stuff is of the German company Kryolan. We use those cosmetics more than any other. Those are also easily available. They have non-greasy bases, water bases - we use whatever is required accordingly, so that dancers do not have make-up running down their faces during a performance. Some people end up using the local kajal, but it runs - the black lines show. Each make-up artist has developed their own technique to tackle that. Mine, for instance, is to use waterproof eyeliner, pencil, kajal and plastic eyeliner as well. After that, it won't run with the dancer's sweat even if they dance for 6 hours. Some people use only kajal that's oily, for instance. You've been doing make-up for so many years; how do you feel watching the dance in that moment? I have watched everyone - Geeta Chandran, Kanaka Srinivasan, Saroja Vaidyanathan, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sonal Mansingh - thanks to Doordarshan. Even Kelucharan Mohapatra. That was my great fortune in the DD job - I have also worked with BM Shah, Mohan Upreti, Master Champa Lal Pawar... what dance, what drama... all the renowned directors of Delhi. I feel exactly like you would when I watch dance, like this is worship. Don't you feel that you are making a big contribution to it? Everyone contributes, it's all team work. This work cannot be done without team work. And I do not do make-up for the sake of doing make-up. The look should be natural on the artist, whether you shoot them for film, or watch them with the naked eye, or photograph them. I don't end without finishing. But during Navaratri, I am not available to dancers. I do make-up at the Shalimar Bagh Ramlila, almost as a service to god, and I do no other work in those nine days. Contact Brij Mohan Gupta: bmohangupta1@gmail.com Post your comments Unless you wish to remain anonymous, please provide your name and email id when you use the Anonymous profile in the blog to post a comment. All appropriate comments posted with name & email id in the blog will also be featured in the site. |
