This year is the centenary year of Sambanand Monappa Pandit (S M Pandit), one of the most popular and sought-after painters of his time. Born in Kalaburagi, S M Pandit was widely known for his realistic and romantic style of paintings. He learnt his first lessons in art from Bhatpara Rao in Bihar.
He is widely celebrated in the Indian calendar industry for his realistic depiction of themes from Hindu Mythology, although they were inspired by Indian cinema. In fact, many of his mythological paintings and illustrations have been collected widely. As a result, he came to be known for his unique mix of artistic virtuosity and filmi glamour. For this, Pandit’s works remain hugely popular even today.
He spent most of his creative years in Mumbai before settling in Kalaburagi. He came to Mumbai in 1935 and joined Nootan Kala Mandir, an art college, for further studies along with other art greats like K K Hebbar and A A Almelkar. He later went on to study at Sir J J School of Arts.
Before landing in Mumbai, Pandit learnt much of his painting skills from Shankar Rao Alandkar, a well-known painter and alumnus of Sir J J School of Arts. The subjects of most of his paintings were based on classical Indian literature and contemporary cinema.
Calendars & film posters
S M Pandit soon made his mark in the commercial world of advertising and film art after he finished his studies. He began his career by painting film showcards for Mumbai’s Metro Theatre. He later moved on to work on with an advertising agency. Sometime later, he began working with the magazine, Filmindia. Here, he designed and illustrated the magazine’s cover pages. These were mostly of Bollywood films that released during the 1950s. Apart from this, he also illustrated many popular film posters.
His graceful composition, coupled with his mastery of the new medium of poster colours, led to his characteristic style of glamourous appeal, dramatic expression and bold graphic composition. This style defined his other body of work that include religious and mythological paintings.
As a student, S M Pandit began working on film posters in the 1950s. Since then, he has illustrated many popular film posters and done illustrations for film magazines and various other publications. He was also known to have painted lifesize portraits. The most popular one is the portrait of Swami Vivekananda at Kanyakumari. He also painted portraits of other prominent leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, and musicians like Pandit Bhimsen Joshi among others. Many of these portraits have gone to adorn the walls of many prestigious museum halls in many countries.
Needless to say, several awards came Pandit’s way for his work. His film posters were awarded a medal at the 1946 International exhibition in Toronto, Canada.
S M Pandit was the founder member of the Commercial Artists Guild, Mumbai. He was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in London and was also conferred the State Lalit Kala Academy Award in 1983, and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 1984. He was conferred the Honorary Doctorate from Gulbarga University, Karnataka in 1986. S M Pandit died in 1993, leaving behind a rich artistic legacy.