Pushpamala N b. 1956
Phantom Lady or Kismet, 1996-98
Black and white photographs
Variable set | Size 16 x 20 inches
Copyright The Artist
Further images
Pushpamala's early photographic series are closely linked with South Asian cinematic conventions. Her first photo-romance Phantom Lady or Kismet, in which she played the two protagonists, is a deliberately excessive,...
Pushpamala's early photographic series are closely linked with South Asian cinematic conventions. Her first photo-romance Phantom Lady or Kismet, in which she played the two protagonists, is a deliberately excessive, even burlesque, revisitation of a popular genre of films from pre-Independence India, recalling the stunt pictures of Wadia Movietone, featuring Fearless Nadia - the “Hunterwali". Richly atmospheric, the series presents a film-noir adventure loosely structured to offer a Bollywood style narrative set in actual locations in Bombay, where a masked Zorro-like character embarks upon a mission to rescue her twin sister from entrapment as an underworld moll.
As early conceptual photography work in India, Phantom Lady's use of performance, irony, spoof, and fictional tropes made it difficult to assimilate at first amongst audiences unsure of how to respond to its clever humour and nuanced interrogation of stereotypes.
As early conceptual photography work in India, Phantom Lady's use of performance, irony, spoof, and fictional tropes made it difficult to assimilate at first amongst audiences unsure of how to respond to its clever humour and nuanced interrogation of stereotypes.
Exhibitions
Phantom lady Kismet, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India, 1996-988
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