By Kavita Mistry 
Mumbai: Ever since the Shiv Sena split in 2022, Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde and even Raj Thackeray have been in a tug of war over party founder Bal Thackeray’s political legacy. Meanwhile, a group of veteran cartoonists is doing its best to preserve and further his artistic legacy through the Cartoonists’ Combine—an outfit founded by Bal Thackeray himself in 1983.
Last week, the Cartoonists’ Combine, which comprises cartoonists from across Maharashtra, held its annual ‘Cartoon Mahotsav’ at a banquet hall in Mumbai’s suburban Santacruz to mark World Cartoonist Day, which is observed annually on 5 May.
According to the president of the outfit, Sanjay Mistry, the event, held every year in different cities of Maharashtra, is meant to be “a tribute to the caricature and cartoon art, and his mentor, Balasaheb, a master of excellence at it”.
This year, the Cartoonists’ Combine had to limit the number of activities at the event, especially the competition segment, to save on the prize money. Not that the funding was hard to come by, it was just that the members of the organisation always choose to conduct the event with their modest individual contributions. And, they would not encourage funding from politicians, Mistry said.
“As cartoonists, we draw courage to show the mirror to the powers that are,” Mistry told ThePrint. “How could we take their help?”
In the same breath, he laments that in the current times, the cartoon art is dying. “Not because there is a dearth of competent artists, it has to do with the curtailed freedom available to the artists to express themselves,” he said.
But the organisation manages to find support from friends and well-wishers in every city. This year, Sandesh Chavhan, founder-director of Ola Vakola Banquet where the event was held, stepped in to cover the logistical arrangements.
“Art unites,” he told ThePrint. A student of the cartoon art, he took it upon himself to personally attend to visitors at the exhibition and lead them to the cartoons displayed on the well-lit walls of the banquet hall. Chavhan was, in fact, listed as one of the co-organisers in the invitation for the Cartoon Mahotsav.
Bal Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English-language daily The Free Press Journal, but he left over political differences with editors and went on to form his own political weekly Marmik in 1960.
Marmik was most popular for its caricatures and cartoons on social and political issues of the times. According to Mistry, Cartoonists’ Combine was started by the Shiv Sena founder to meet the rising demand for creative cartoonists at Marmik.
Today, Cartoonists’ Combine maintains that it is not politically affiliated. However, this year’s Cartoon Mahotsav was held with support from Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Potnis, and had Subhash Desai, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and close aide of Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav, as special guest, according to the invite for the event.
Mistry emphasised that their presence did not make the platform political. “They are friends from old times,” he told ThePrint.
The Cartoon Mahotsav
For the event, Cartoonists’ Combine had sought entries from cartoonists all over India through newspapers and social media, inviting them to express their thoughts and emotions on social issues.
A total of 100 cartoon images were on display, revealing truth through subtle variations of form of characters. Techniques such as symbolism, exaggeration, satire and humour, all hallmarks of Bal Thackeray’s own style, attempted to convey hard-hitting social malaise and political chaos through mere lines and curves.
Each display on the wall spoke of the issues of the time, yet some rang as eternal truths. For instance, Mangesh Tendulkar’s work showing a family of five crammed on a scooter, complete with the pet dog leashed behind, while a beggar from the street looks on.
Then there was a caricature of Bal Thackeray himself drawn by none other than his nephew, Raj Thackeray, showing his uncle waving at supporters.
Mistry said Cartoonists’ Combine had sent invitations to both Uddhav and Raj, but they could not make it due to other commitments.
“Balasaheb would always be present for the annual Cartoonists’ Combine events and he encouraged artists to express themselves with boldness and courage. He also offered suggestions on improvement by touching up their artwork himself,” he explained.
Entries depicting last month’s Pahalgam tragedy had also been invited, and some thoughtful responses were received. A terrorist with trails of footprints from Pakistan was one.
The wall of images was colourful and digitised, in stark contrast to the pencil sketches of the veterans.
“Plagiarism has become easy nowadays,” Mistry said. “People tend to lift any image of another artist and post it out with their signature.”
The cartoon art being an intellectual activity, a combination of skill, sensitivity and deep thinking, needed to be encouraged, he asserted. With hard work and passion for their art, cartoonists would survive and even flourish in any society, he added.
Komal Talwalkar, a graphic designer who visited the exhibition, was impressed with the images on display.
“Social and political issues have been dealt with humour and satire. You see them with a pinch of salt—a punch,” she told ThePrint, adding that her focus is on trying to understand how the mind of a cartoonist works.
Mistry is already planning the next event of Cartoonists’ Combine. The topic, he said, will be unity. “Only artists and writers can break the big walls of divisions in society. They have strong weapons of brushes and pens,” he said.
Chitra Anand is an intern who graduated from ThePrint School of Journalism.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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