The artist who captured the drama of Hindu legend

March 25, On This Day

Mythology (and movie) maestro

If you’re a followed of Hindu mythology, you may have invariably come across the works of Sambanand Monappa Pandit or SM Pandit, who was born in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, on March 25 in 1916. One of the most sought-after painters of his time, Pandit subscribed to the school of Realism, and counted stalwarts like MV Dhurandhar and Raja Ravi Varma among his influences. In his paintings, Pandit tended to typically depict his male subjects as handsome, muscular and valorous, while the women would be painted as sensuous, beautiful and voluptuous.

Interestingly, his subjects oscillated between Indian religious epics (Ramayana, Mahabharata, Puranas, etc.), sometimes harnessed as calendar art, and even contemporary cinema of his time! During this time, Pandit designed and illustrated cover pages for magazine Filmindia, and also designed the posters and other publicity material for films like Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Barsaat (1949) and more.

He also painted portraits of Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher, which are on permanent display in the Indian High Commission and Commonwealth Institute in London. He also reportedly painted Saddam Hussein, Dr BR Ambedkar, Bhimsen Joshi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Lata Mangeshkar’s family members.