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This exhibition showcases the culture in princely states of pre-1947 India
Updated On: 04 August, 2024 01:06 PM IST | Mumbai | Anadya Narain
From films starring maharajas and maharanis, to photographs of courtesans and commoners, this exhibit offers a rare glimpse of the culture in princely states in pre-Independence India
A photograph of the Charminar in Hyderabad, captured by Raja Deen Dayal, court photographer to the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad in the 1800s. Pic/Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
Think of pre-Independence India, and it’s usually stories of the freedom struggle in colonial cities like Bombay and Delhi that come to mind. And yet, there were princely states that remained unconquered by the British, where their art and culture expressed their modern aspirations. It’s memories of this other India that will be in the limelight on Saturday, when Versova’s Harkat Studios will present a rare exhibition with archival photos, films, and memorabilia—many of which have never been displayed before—of princely India in the early 20th century.
Curated by film historians C Yamini Krishna, Sarah Niazi, and Rutuja Deshmukh, the showcase, titled The Chitramahal: Princely Encounters with Photography and Film, highlights the fascinating visual language developed by the princely states of Kolhapur, Hyderabad, Indore and Jaipur.
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