Explore the vibrant world of artiste Deepti Naval – where art, cinema and stories come together in a quaint little gallery in the village of Haripur, off the Naggar Manali Road in Himachal. My dreams
Look for the real thing,
And my reality chases a dream . . . Behind her silence lies a st
rength that has made Deepti Naval the persona she is today. With a passion that cries art in its truest form, and, which has traversed from the celluloid where each act was carefully chosen and honed, to paper, where verse flowed from her thought to be penned for posterity and her latest, her canvases, where her striking strokes kindle the flames of her latent talent, she wins critical acclaim for whatever be the creative outlet of the self. Deepti Naval’s sky is vast as it stretches from one horizon of life to another as she dabbles with consummate ease in different media – be it films, direction, scripting, painting, photography or poetry. Her work is representative of modern existential conflicts, joys and sorrows, of wearing and tearing different masks for survival. The work encompasses the expression of music of the soul with velvety photographic images and honest experiences of brutality in different spheres of life sometimes through Sylvia Plath-like poetic images. Her paintings belong to the impressionistic school of art. Be it a self portrait, a lighted lantern hanging in the dark or a woman standing nude by the side of a door, her work is personal yet touches on the universal by the deft stroke of a brush, the skillful use of words, the sensitive lens-eye or the naturalness in portraying different roles as an actress. Deepti’s hunger for creativity remains insatiable. PAINTER
Apart from acting, Deepti‟s brush-strokes also speak volumes about her. A keen painter, Deepti has many showings to her credit. She first opened with a very successful exhibition of her paintings, a one- woman show at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Bombay titled, REFLECTIONS. Her work is essentially „expressionistic‟. She is distinctly known for her portraits and landscapes. In one of her signature self-portraits she paints herself as a pregnant
nun, a painting titled Contradiction. An accomplished artist, Deepti‟s oil paintings speak to the viewer. Landscapes with a lot of depth and women with haunting eyes are special features of Deepti‟s oils. A huge painting of herself with Smita Patil remains one of Deepti‟s favorites. WRITER/POET
Bulbul Mankani writes –
‘Deepti is a seeker of Beauty: an explorer of wilderness. Her poems spring from anguish both within and without. And the visual intoxication of nature. And the burnished loveliness of living. There is innocence in her writings – ‘I stop the car and watch in disbelief – with what ‘elan the peacocks cross the street. . . .’ She takes such delight in the visual form. Her own personal spaces shift constantly lack words to juice out the possibility of more beauty. LAMHA-LAMHA – 1981
A sensitive poet, Deepti has to her credit a book of poems in Urdu- Hindi called, LAMHA-LAMHA published in 1981. LAMHA LAMHA (Moments) – Deepti‟s first anthology of poetry in Urduized-Hindustani was published on the behest of Amrita Pritam, the eminent figure of Punjabi literature. In Deepti‟s writing of blank verses, interestingly for the first time Punjabi words flow in as smoothly as the Urdu words. With all her dreamy-eyed vision of life she overcomes a sense of loneliness, a strain of subtle sadness, and a compulsive desire for self-expression, by pouring the romantic moments in verse. BLACK WIND AND OTHER POEMS - 2004
BLACK WIND and Other Poems was published by Mapin Lit. Highlighting the early 90s, the poems are largely autobiographical. The poetry is highly reflective and throws light on the actresses‟ concerns in life and relationships. Black Wind and Other Poems is a second collection of Deepti‟s poetry delving into the darker side of life. In the words of the editor Suguna Ramanathan -
‘These poems constitute a direct and honest female voice speaking of suffering, madness and pain. They deal with broken relationships, abortions, lost chances, city riots, love, suicidal thoughts, friends from the film world now lost, and very occasionally, the possibility of beauty and joy. ‘
Will you do something for me? When I die,
Will you bury the cloud with me? A distinct poetic sensibility and rhythm, emotion and images all coalesce here to achieve something quite beautiful. Life walks on the edge of a knife, tips over into the unspeakable, rises at sight of a flower, sinks again, rises again, and walks on. BLACK WIND extends the scene a little but the world outside is not very different from the madhouse in THE SILENT SCREAM. My dreams
Look for the real thing,
And my reality chases a dream. . . THE SILENT SCREAM - 2004
THE SILENT SCREAM is a section within BLACK WIND AND OTHER POEMS, comprising twenty-four poems. It is the outcome of a stay as an observer in the mental Ward of a hospital, wherein Deepti evokes powerfully the dread, freedom and horror of life within. OUT ALONE
She stood at one end of veranda A naked bulb glowed
At the other end
Staining the dark floor
With dull yellow light
Beyond the empty ward
Dragged echoes of the autumn night
From pillar to pillar
In severe silence
Moved brilliant shadows
Out alone in the cold, she stood Night after night
Fighting her demons
Her body frail and brittle Flapped life-like
On two glass feet
The torched face broken
Then tacked together, so bluntly The ridged joints showed
Hounded eyes that did not blink Frozen in a deathlike glaze
Her fragile spirit, splintered . . . These are not the features She was born with
This is the face we gave her
THE MAD TIBETAN - 2011
THE MAD TIBETAN: Stories From Then And Now was her first collection of short stories published in 2011 by Amaryllis.Review - Jaskiran Copra writes...
"There is a new world that opens up to the reader in every tale and
at times, it becomes difficult for us to disengage ourselves and step out of that world. Long after the story is over, its landscape and characters stay in our mind and sometimes take on a life of their own. Sincerity, simplicity and sensitivity are the three most dominant strands that run through Deepti‟s flowing narration‟. THE RIVER AND I - 2015
THE RIVER AND I is an anthology of poems under publication, written during her Tchadar Expedition, the Frozen River Trek, which she undertook in the winter of 2002 walking the Zanskar riverbed over eight days. Every little thing that she felt during that journey she scribbled in her notepad and these poems are the outcome of that experience. About this unique experience she writes –
'I was not going back without experiencing the river. Something told me, Follow your heart!‟ And I did. I did this journey all by myself. Let me be honest, I did not want to share the river with anyone‟. NOTES FROM LAMAYURU – IN PRINT
Currently Deepti is working on the publication of her next collection of poems – NOTES FROM LAMAYURU. This she feels would be the third phase of her poetic journey. PHOTOGRAPHER
IN SEARCH OF ANOTHER SKY – an exhibition of photographs where she depicts images of a Ladakh winter was held in Piramal gallery, Bombay, Gallery Espace, Delhi and Nehru Centre in London. Naval wanted to capture Ladakh‟s tranquility, when it is difficult to find a soul around, rather than during its tourist season. The blue sky, she says, is enchanting and refreshing for the soul. “There is poetry in the starkness,” she says. Indeed, a talented photographer comes alive in Naval‟s pictures that capture the breathtaking landscapes with the ravishing sky, the dried trees, the texture of sand and the rows of chortens. In fact, these desert scapes reveal a poetic sensibility. SHADES OF RED – An exhibition of her photographs of Lahore and Kumaoun hills. ROAD BUILDERS – An exhibition of photographs from the Himalayan regions of Ladak and Himachal.
