City mural on the Oscars slapgate

The artwork was done by artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy in two hours on Sunday

The Oscars slapgate has sparked a mural in Yelahanka on the theme ‘Don’t fight, let’s dance’. Artist Baadal Nanjundaswamy, who is known for his street artwork on civic and social issues, has created it.

The mural captures the moment just after Hollywood actor Will Smith smacked comedian Chris Rock for joking about the former's wife and actor Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss, while presenting this year’s Academy Awards in Los Angeles, USA, on March 27. In the mural, Will and Chris are holding a pair of colourful dandiya sticks.

Ask him about the philosophy behind the mural, especially the dandiya sticks, and 42-year-old Baadal says, “Today, war, violence, and fights are happening everywhere. So I gave Will Smith and Chris Rock dandiya sticks in their hands as a gesture of ‘No more fight, let’s dance, let there be love always’.”

His mural is not only a take on conflicts happening in the real world but on social media too. “We have become judgemental these days. We come to conclusions quickly. We don’t think about the good and bad consequences of it. I don’t want to judge Will Smith or Chris Rock. I want to tell them ‘Have fun. Stay together’.”

The mural has come upon an abandoned wall in Avalahalli in Yelahanka off the main road towards Doddaballapura. It can be seen next to a settlement of artisans who make and sell sculptures and pots on the roadside, he informs. The R T Nagar resident found the wall, thanks to a friend.

It took Baadal two hours to paint the mural on Sunday morning. By evening, he put it up on Instagram. It has garnered over 5,000 likes across two separate posts since.