Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 6: Her admiration for the musical Mangeshkar family has made the country proud. Meet Anuja Rhythm Wagholikar, an art lover from Pune who for the first time produced and presented a coffee table book titled ‘Strokes of Harmony’, a collection of paintings by singer Usha Mangeshkar and other members of the Mangeshkar clan, including two masterpieces by the late Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar, which was released by noted painter Vasudeo Kamat in Mumbai on May 3.
“Through this coffee table book, I am rediscovering and sharing with your all, a side of me that I keep close to my heart,” Usha Mangeshkar, the voice of hit songs like “Mungda” and “Jai Santoshi Maa,” said at the book release event. “To become proficient in any art form, one must first study it in-depth and learn from the experts. The paintings in this book represent the pinnacle of my knowledge of this art style. This isn’t an entire work of art because no work of art can ever be punctuated with a full stop.”
All 129 artworks in the coffee table book were meticulously put together. Usha Mangeshkar painted the majority of the pieces, utilising a variety of styles and mediums. In total, there are 35 paintings based on water colours, 16 oil paintings, 28 pencil sketches, 7 oil pastels, 13 record covers, 21 landscapes, and 9 paintings by the Mangeshkar family in the collection. Anuja Bhosle and Ranjay Bhosle’s paintings, Usha Mangeshkar and Pt. Hridaynath Mangeshkar’s paintings as well as two masterstrokes by Lata Didi make this book a collector’s edition.
‘Every stroke in Usha Tai’s paintings bespeaks craft, elegance, dedication, completeness, and transmits a story that most likely will create a space in your heart forever,’ said Anuja Rhythm Wagholikar, the book’s producer and presenter from Pune. To be honest, picking a favorite picture from this collection is tough because each one is distinctive in its way, enormously different yet uncannily similar, both beautiful and infinitely uncommon.’
‘This book is a modest offering to our Maa Sarawati, the voice of the millennium, Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, in our small way,’ she continues.
The book release ceremony was held at Prabhukunj, the residence of legendary playback singer and Bharat Ratna Awardee, Lata Mangeshkar in the presence of noted personalities like Rachana Shah, Dr. Nishit Shah, Yogesh Khadikar, Adinath Mangeshkar, Sudhir and Anuradha Wagholikar, Prashant and Savita Dandvate, Akshay Wagholikar, Dr. Kiran Gupta and others.
Rhythm Wagholikar, a noted author , while introducing the book said, “The genius behind this book is Usha Mangeshkar whose paintings have the power to both find and lose ourselves at the same time. Well understanding the phenomenon that lies in the façade of Usha Mangeshkar is just like her art – empyrean and inexplicable’.
Strokes of Harmony is published by Latika Creations and beautifully designed by Nutan Asgaonkar.
Mayuresh Pai of Latika Creations said, “As a matter of fact this book is the materialisation of Lata Didi’s heartfelt wishes to put Usha Tai’s paintings out to the world which the latter had always hesitated to bring forth. I reminisce how things led to the present moment, as I bring the first offering by Latika creations – ‘The Strokes of Harmony.’
Vijay Singh
