In one of the most important collaborations since it was established, the Foundation is proud to partner with the Louvre Abu Dhabi in the six-month long exhibition Bollywood Superstars: A Short Story on Indian Cinema.
Organised by the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and France Museums, Bollywood Superstars is co-curated by Julien Rousseau, Head of the Asian Collection at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac with Hélène Kessous, Anthropologist, and specialist of South Asian cinema.
The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, the only institution from India to partner in the show, has loaned original chromolithographs from the Ravi Varma Press to the Louvre in this specially curated collection. It also includes a wide range of loans, highlighting early storyteller’s props, shadow puppets, photography, Mughal armours, daggers, mythological, and religious lithographs.
A regional industry that grew to become a global phenomenon in less than a century, Indian cinema is now one of the world’s largest, releasing more than 1,500 films each year in almost twenty languages. Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, was one of the early beneficiaries of the Ravi Varma FAL Press, honing his skills which in turn, influenced his depiction of characters and subjects in Indian cinema. Featuring extracts from some 40 films and more than 80 artworks, Bollywood Superstars investigates the diverse origins of Indian cinema.
From 19th century traditional shadow theatre and early silent movies to the 21st century gods of the screen, the exhibition presents the richness of India’s image-making traditions alongside the influence of popular arts such as storytelling, dance, and theatre, and its close relationship with mythology and religion.
The show was held from January to June 2023.