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The Rediff Interview/RajThackeray

'Cartoons are the most powerful weapon in today's politics. Saheb has proved this'

Raj Thackeray returns to the public eye with an exhibition of caricatures at the Nehru Centre this week. From P V Narasimha Rao to Sharad Pawar to Bappi Lahiri and Jayalalitha, no one escapes his thrusting brush. Not even his uncle and role model, Balasaheb Thackeray from whom he learnt both his art and his political style. Here, Raj explains (among other things) why he has been forced to take a brief sabbatical from cartooning, in an interview with Pritish Nandy.

Who taught you cartooning? Did you ever go to art school?

There was a plan to send me to the JJ School of Arts but, at the last moment, a friend of the family (very appropriately) told my parents: 'Why do you want to ruin his talent? So I stayed at home and learnt from Saheb. When you have the best cartoonist in the land at home, why do you need to go elsewhere to learn?

You seriously think Balasaheb is the best cartoonist in the land? Why?

His style is absolutely original. He also has a meticulous sense of drawing. If he is painting a rubbish heap, he will go into every detail. He will show the coconut, the plantain leaf; even the odd sanitary napkin sticking out. That is his unique style. The style of a great cartoonist. It sets him apart. Also, the fact that he never repeats himself. Every cartoon is an original. He never replicates his ideas. He sticks to the path no one has ever travelled by. That is his strength, his unique contribution to the art of caricature.

Who are your favourite cartoonists?

Walt Disney, David Low. Here, Dinanath Dalal. And among the new generation cartoonists, Mort Drucker and Jack Davis of MAD. Each of them has his own particular style. That is why I like them. Of course, for me, Disney is the ultimate master of visual humour. That's his picture up there; his original signature.

What will you be showing on January 26 at the Nehru Centre? Cartoons or caricatures?

Caricatures and, for the first time, caricatures on canvas. Almost 120 works in all.

Are there any people you find impossible to caricature? Boring, dull, or plain uncaricaturable people? Like Laxman once said that he found Rajiv Gandhi too cutsie to caricature.

Yes, there are quite a few people like that. For caricaturing you need something special in a person. Frankly, how can you differentiate between a Sonali Bendre and a Raveena Tandon? Among politicians, I would say Sonia Gandhi is not exactly a cartoonist's delight. A cartoonist looks for something peculiar, something odd, something different. That's what makes his work so special.

What did you learn from Balasaheb as a cartoonist?

I spent hours watching him and learnt from him his sense of discipline. He never just sat down and drew a cartoon. He spent hours labouring over his work, on getting it perfect. I knew that he had finally accepted me as a cartoonist when, once in a while, he began to ask me to pencil him an idea or ink in an idea that he had sketched. It showed his confidence in me and I realised that I had finally met with his approval. For me, that was the final achievement. The biggest trophy.

Why have you stopped cartooning in recent years?

How can you lampoon your own people? The problem occurred when the Shiv Sena came to power in Maharashtra and the BJP-led alliance took oath in Delhi. We became an intrinsic part of both governments, in Bombay as well as in Delhi. And, only naturally, it became difficult to poke fun at oneself.

Several times I drew a critical cartoon and then, at the last moment, stopped myself from putting it out in print. I thought it would be misunderstood, be a politically incorrect thing to do. Like the time I drew a cartoon when everyone was talking about fake encounters, showing Gopinath Munde, home minister, at the height of his so-called conflict with the chief minister, chasing around Manohar Joshi with a gun. But I never published it. For about one and a half years I have stayed away from drawing cartoons only because I felt it may be misunderstood.

Whose work do you like most among today's political caricaturist in India?

Ninan. I like the way he draws.

Why don't you draw? Why do you always use a brush, not a pen?

It gives me an opportunity to use different line thickness, to exaggerate, to distort more easily. The brush has a feel that the pen can never give. You feel like a painter.

Why does Indira Gandhi keep appearing so often in your cartoons? Why is she one of your favourite characters for cartooning?

Whatever her faults, she was a great personality. That makes her the perfect target for a cartoonist. Look at this canvas. One of our Shiv Sena ministers saw it and asked me, 'Did she really have such a big nose?' That is the problem with cartoons. You either understand them or you don't. No one can explain them to you.

Do you think cartooning gives you the opportunity to put forward a succinct political ideas at times?

Cartoons, if you ask me, are the most powerful weapon in today's politics. Balasaheb Thackeray has proved this. From his cartoons he created a huge following that translated itself into a powerful and inspired political movement. That movement then became a political party and, eventually, that political party has come to now rule Maharashtra. That is the single biggest success story of cartooning. It shows the power of the medium. It shows how cartoons can impact the minds and lives of millions of people and send them a clear, unambiguous political message. The Shiv Sena is a direct outcome of Saheb's impact and status as a popular cartoonist.

What did you enjoy more: Cartooning or politics?

Both have a place in my life but if it weren't for cartooning I would never have been in politics. Cartooning, quietly and discreetly, drew me into the circle of politics and I continue to enjoy both. They both inspire me and I could never given up one for the other.

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