I recently discovered the genius that is Pranab ‘Bobo’ Dutta and have been mighty impressed with his work, which is automotive art with romantic places and drive/ride theme to them. Having been plying his craft in paintings to begin with in the early 1980s followed by graphic design for magazines, newspapers and television with some of the best names in the business globally, Bobo turned to his first love when he set up Great Latitude, his own design studio in Gurgaon in 2005. Since then he has used his own digital mastering techniques to create a series of retro posters that blends his love for bikes and cars and aircraft with the places he has visited.
“With Jawas being the bike of choice for the intrepid motorcyclist of that time, it had to be his bike with which he went and toured the countryside then”
This being a magazine solely focused on two-wheels, I have featured here his creation titled Nainital which harks back to his early days in Delhi. He used to ride to Nainital on his trusty Jawa Perak and as he narrated to me, the first time he went there and opened his eyes to the early morning light, he was bedazzled with the beautiful surrounding there replete with lush meadow-lined valleys surrounding a large lake. Add to that were the magnificent Himalayas towering in the background. And with Jawas being the bike of choice for the intrepid motorcyclist of that time, it had to be his bike with which he went and toured the countryside then.
When I penned this feature in late June Bobo had done five of these retro posters to date (Land-Rover Series I in Darjeeling; Bedford truck at Digboi; Douglas DC-3 Dakota at Mohunbari airfield; the Jawa Perak in Nainital featured here plus his latest masterpiece being a Chevy Impala and Fiat 1100 Millicento in Bombay) and these are all in a run of 100 units each so if you want one of them do hurry up and contact him at pranabdutta@me.com.
But just as this issue was being packed for printing I called him up to crosscheck some details and he has rendered a few more of which a classic Ford Mustang at Bandra in Bombay, a Volkswagen at Fort Aguada in Goa and probably the piece de resistance – Royal Enfield Bullet 350 at the Lamayuru Monastery in Ladkah have truly blown my mind!
The effect of light and shade on the Bullet is seriously delicious and you have to see it to believe it! I don’t think I have seen anyone do better in this country and these are so lifelike that some of the uninitiated in this art form have paid Bob the ultimate accolade of terming these as photo prints when they are anything but that! Each poster is in A1 size and some more have been planned to include Delhi, Simla, Calcutta and Madras with vehicles to match. I can hardly wait for him to get to Pune, oops Poona with Bajaj Chetak and Tata 1210 in prime focus!
