It was almost eight in the evening when we both sat to create a logo. Prior to that I tried convince him let me work on this at home, and present it to you. But it didnt convince him. Every creative person requires their own comfort and space to produce an art. Be it whoever, the Creative Director who is ideating a brand launch or a sculptor, water colourist or just whoever.
But this gentleman is a man of few words and I was asked to come home. I still was ready with a few logo options that if anything he likes out of those can be handed over to him immediately.

This client of mine had a particular style of handling artists/designers and I understood much later.
When a design is presented to him he would jump, scream out of happiness to show his immense liking for it and next moment that best work wold start going through changes.

Etake ke nil kore de.. Otake laal kore de. [This one you make Blue and that you make Red]. and slowly everything of that best design would go beyond control. Now he does not know what next.. and with a submissive smile he would say..

Hochche na.. Tui dakh.. [Not happening.. You see what best can be done.]

We sat together to design the logo. He soon served two large pegs of single malt to get into the mood. Said, Lets have some drink. Work started. Almost at midnight logo took its final shape which could convince my finicky client as worth releasing.

Thus was the genesis of logo design for Lokhandwala Durgotsav, decade and a half back.

This client was none other than Abhijeet Bhattacharya, the eminent play back singer of Indian Cinema who is the President of this mega event.

Lokhandwala Durgotsav, the magnitude of this mega event/puja is an experience of a life time. The spick and span puja premises, the gorgeous Durga idol, the robust support team, the planning, the setup, the stage, the performance of star studded singers of Bollywood, the security, drone cameras up in the sky, the press reporters, the 40 well dressed dhakis bidding their drums, serving of the five course holy lunch (The Bhog), changes the whole atmosphere of Lokhandwala during this week long Utsav.

A few years back little before puja was travelling to Kolkata, as I came out of the airport and taking a glance of the city sitting at the rear seat of an app cab, suddenly one hoarding caught my attention. Some local club have used the same logo having changed the name and printed on the large board to invite people to visit their Pandal. It made me Awestruck for a moment thinking not just the old master paintings, even a meagre logo created for a Durgotsav also can influence others.

It speaks largely about the reach and the popularity of Lokhandwala Durgotsav.

lokhandwaladurgapuja #durgapujainmumbai #digitalillustration #utpalsheartzout

Facebook post on 10th October 2021