The Dada of make-up

In a middleclass home 75yearold Pandhari Juker fondly known as Pandhari Dada shares tips and hacks on how to perfect the art of makeup with an attentive crowd This opening scene of the 35minute documentary titled Pandhari ke Rang Pandharirsquos colours is a telling of the veteran artistrsquos skill and patience Directed by Sachin Shirke and Pankaj Sharma the film shines light on the artistic journey of a man who was responsible for the way many leading stars looked from the 1950s to the late rsquo90sJuker examines a poster of Yash Choprarsquos LamheldquoWhen we had an opportunity to make a documentary for the Films Division we initially thought of making a film about Bollywood technicians who work behind the scenes and often donrsquot get the recognition they deserve We thought of looking at the work of costume designer Bhanu Athaiya but then we realised therersquos a lot of information available including a book about her Thatrsquos when we thought of makeuprdquo recalls ShirkeldquoWhen we researched for information about Pandhari Dada it was surprising that despite doing over 700 films there was hardly any information about him not even a Wikipedia page He started his career in the 1950s with V Shantaram He was the first makeup artiste to receive a diploma from the University of Russia This was done on the recommendation of Nargis Dutt and KA Abbasrdquo he addsThe makeup artiste with the late Priya Tendulkar File picSeveral actors including Waheeda Rehman Madhuri Dixit Saroj Khan Juhi Chawla Manisha Koirala Subhash Ghai Renuka Shahane Sudha Chandran and Gulshan Grover among others speak fondly about Pandhari Dada in the film ldquoWe had no trouble slotting the interviews Everyone we approached was happy to speak about him because of the goodwill he has had The popular belief in the industry was that if you have your makeup done by Pandhari Dada then you are bound to be successfulrdquo says SharmaThe documentary has interviews in Hindi and Marathi with certain sections in English as well While celebrities shared warm personalised anecdotes about his hard work and warmth Juhi Chawla pointed out that he always applied makeup using his hands Actor Ashwini Bhave joked that she always told him that he must get his fingers insuredLeft Film director Sachin Shirke and right DOP Nikhil Kamble chat with actress Renuka ShahaneldquoBack in the day there was no 3D makeup and technology but he still made actors look beautiful mdash from Meena Kumari to Dimple Kapadia Rekha Jaya Bachchan Madhuri Dixit Sridevi and Kajol Pandhari Dada was a constant for many leading film banners For example Yash Chopra would work only with him He was part of the team for all his filmsrdquo Shirke reveals Pandhari Dada also worked extensively with Ekta Kapoorrsquos Balaji Telefilms ldquoOn one show Sudha Chandran played the role of a vamp called Ramola Sikand Pandhari Dada had designed a bindi for her which everyone including the actress felt was too loud and were sceptical about it Pandhari Dada promised that in a few months the style would become a trend and everyone would follow it and he was rightrdquo says ShirkeThe filmmakers with centre Waheeda RehmanSharma recollects how the artiste always wanted to know what was happening on the shoot if the edits had gone well or if artistes willingly gave interviews for their film ldquoHe wasnrsquot too well and his family members requested us to not keep calling him to different locations for the shoot However he would get upset if we didnrsquot involve him He is one of the nicest people we have worked with We are sad that despite the contribution of several such legendary artistes in the field of makeup none of the popular film awards present awards in this field and the artistes do not get the recognition they deserverdquo says SharmaSharma and Shirke began shooting the film in 2019 in 2020 it had to be stalled due to COVID19 and was finally completed it in 2021 Pandhari Dada passed away in 2021 but had a chance to see the rough cut The screening is a part of NCPArsquos Reality Check curated by Cinema Collective where two other documentaries will be screened along with thisThe team meets centre actress Sudha ChandranThe film Aravali ndash The Lost Mountains is about marble quarrying in Rajasthanrsquos Rajsamand district and the serious water crisis and air pollution that mining causes in this region The film explores the right balance between economy and the environment The other film Raga of River Narmada Waterscapes India looks at the many moods colours and shapes of the Narmada juxtaposed with a traditional Dhrupad recitation The film screenings will be followed by a post film discussionThe crew also interviewed left Kiran Shantaram son of renowned filmmaker late V ShataramldquoTypically we screen films that are 60 minutes to 120 minutes however we had these three gems with us that are roughly 30 minutes each So it was a calculated decision to put these together irrespective of them not being thematic but giving the audience a smorgasbord of themesrdquo says Veena Bakshi Cinema CollectiveOn March 20 630 pm onwardsAt Godrej Dance Theatre NCPA NCPA Marg Nariman PointLog on to inbookmyshowcomEntry First come first served basis till 620 pm