Hrithik Roshan as Jesus and the Khans as his disciples. No, this is not a new film, but ?Bollywood resurrected?, as young artist Shawn Lewis puts it. Lewis was commissioned in December 2009 to do a piece of art by Sidhartha Jain, producer and CEO iRock Media Pvt Ltd, and he came up with a Bollywood version of The Last Supper.
?Having read about my work, Sidhartha called to say he wanted me to paint something for him. After throwing around a few ideas, we thought of doing The Last Supper with Bollywood actors in place of Jesus and the Apostles. Sidhartha liked the idea, chose the actors and gave me complete freedom to go about the painting.? Titled ?The Last Bollywood Supper?, the work of art is an eight feet by three-and-a-half-feet canvas in which Lewis has stuck to his own style, but has also incorporated pop art and made the work as colourful as possible. ?This work symbolises the coming together of Bollywood. For me, it was the bringing together of different eras at one table, partaking of a common feast. However, there is no Judas in my painting. If a viewer intends there to be one, then it?s their perception,? he says.
But why The Last Supper? ?For me, the similarity to Christianity comes from 13 men gathered together to break bread. But it ends there. The men are from different backgrounds and religions. This was meant more to be a coming together of individuals than a religious statement. If we were to draw parallels, this work of art is a resurrection of Bollywood,? he says.
The thread that weaves the many elements together is simple, yet definitive, Lewis explains. ?After much deliberation, I chose Hrithik Roshan as Jesus for his humility as a person and that he is pretty much uncontroversial. He is holding a card in his hand. Shahrukh Khan doesn?t like what he sees on the card and is openly showing his dislike. Aamir Khan is smirking, probably from knowing what?s on the card,? he explains.
To the far right are Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. ?I?ve put Amol Palekar and Farooque Sheikh together for their shared chemistry and the work they?ve done together. Palekar is in a world of his own and Sheikh is trying to get him out of it,? he adds. Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand and Shammi Kapoor have been painted distinctly in black and white to portray an age gone by, yet not forgotten. Lewis has painted Amitabh Bachchan in colour to symbolise his continuity as an actor and his present continuous career path. As both come from the same lineage, Ranbir Kapoor is seated in a very Shammi Kapoor-type pose.
Lewis mentions the encouraging criticism coming his way. ?Within two hours of posting the painting on my website, I received appreciative comments from all over the world; from friends and strangers alike. The only difference of opinion a few have had so far was why I didn?t paint Amitabh as the central figure.?
Lewis, a self-trained artist, isn?t basking in the afterglow of The Last Bollywood Supper, which took him two months to complete. His theme and mural art company, Pictorblanca, keeps him busy. ?Pictorblanca designs and paints walls and ceilings according to any theme a client would require. It encompasses covering a variety of spaces like homes, offices, galleries and cafes, among others.?
Lewis feels the more his art is out there for public consumption, the more it pushes him to be better. ?Honest art for me is the presence of innocence and humility and it is what I strive to achieve in all of my work,? he says.