Abhinay Ratna

"Girls used to avoid me and try to hide from me," the dapper clean-shaven man reveals candidly. Even if so, he adds, "Those days were mine." There's no doubting his words. 'Abhinay Ratna', Gautam Ratna Bajracharya 'Tuladhar', in the middle 1970's, was one of the best-known faces in Nepali cinema.  He started his acting career as a villain in 'Kumari' and went on to do more villainous roles in fifteen other films, of which about five films are yet to be released.  The most recent film he has been signed on for is a Newari movie, 'Bala Maiju' that is to be screened shortly. In spite of his screen persona in the negative role, one can of course see that he is a gentleman in real life.

One would also think that the above would be enough to satisfy the creative urges of any man. But no, his visiting card today describes him as a 'Senior Cine Actor / Fine Artist / Painter' and the address below that is 'Gautam's Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited'. The villain is an artist too, and his canvases speak volumes about the man's immense talent in fine arts.

On 16th October 2001, the villain / artist had a solo exhibition at the Nepal Art Council Gallery titled, 'Significant Dances of Nepal' and on 30th December 2003, another at the same venue titled, ' Waves of Nature'. About the first, he writes in the accompanying brochure, 'Dance is a form of cultural ornament of any country…' and goes on to describe various forms of Nepalese dance forms. He ends with '…so it is right time to think seriously for its preservation… I am going to exhibit 46 acrylic paintings representing different dances from Nepal.'  About the second, this is what the eminent artist / litterateur Bal Krishna Sama said, 'Gautam Ratna Tuladhar is the foremost among our folk dancers. I wish him all the best and hope he will be as successful in the field of painting. This is highly possible because a canvas is after all but a dance of colours.'

Rightly said too because Gautam started to dance when he was just 16 years old. He went on to be the 'Shiva' every dance lover identified with in his famous 'Bhairav Kali Dance', which has been performed numerous times and in numerous places. "Bimala (Shrestha) Chettri and myself were the creators of this dance which is enacted so often nowadays by so many other dancers." Gautam also informs, "Ram Bharat Milap was another of my opera type dances that was a great hit. It ran for almost five months at the Naachghar and people used to queue up from the early hours to get a ticket." Other super hit opera / dances in which he was the main dancer were 'Satyanag' and 'Muna Madan'. Gautam Ratna Tuladhar, cine artist / artist / dancer, has performed as a dancer all over the country as well as in many countries around the globe.

Dancing seems to be in his blood. "Although I am now 55 years old, I believe I can still give a good rendition of any traditional dance form," he says. Looking at his trim and well-maintained figure, one cannot doubt his words. In fact, in the near future he might well give a performance in Baber Mahal Revisited itself. Surely this is something every dance lover will be looking forward to eagerly. Gautam is an expert on traditional dance forms and studied the art at Sangeet Mahavidalaya, which is affiliated to Allahabad University. "I did my junior graduation and specialized in the acting aspects of dance as well." He is also a diploma holder of fine arts from Lalitpur Kala Academy.

Gautam was born on 2nd March 1949 in Harshabahal, Nhyakuntala, Ason, Kathmandu. His present address is Budhanagar, Baneswar where he lives with his wife Geeta, an 18 year old daughter, Krija, and a son, 16 year old Gaurav, "who is excellent in sketching and is artistically inclined". Krija, on the other hand, has deep interest in dance. "I married at a relatively late age of around 37 years," says Gautam. An educated guess would probably reveal that the villain in the limelight must have been too caught up in a world of glamour and beautiful people to have had time to give much thought to as mundane a thing as marriage. "Well, I was quite busy those days with acting, dancing and painting," he agrees. "But after a time, I began to be apprehensive that it was getting to be a little too late to settle down to a stable life." Still, when he talks about the good old days, his eyes do get a dreamy look. As far as his acting career is concerned, he has one regret however, "I wish I could have done a hero's role." Asked to comment a little on his glamorous life during his acting heydays, he declines to reveal much except, "You see, that was my time. Need I say more?"

Gautam's father, Ratna 'Gurju' Bajracharya was well known as the 'Kancha Gurju' who, besides performing his duties as a 'Gurju' (priest), was also a businessman who plied the Lhasa / Kathmandu trade route. As a matter of fact, Gautam's father conducted his business from Lhasa itself where he resided for well over 22 years. The artist's mother, Chandra Prava Bajracharya, unfortunately passed away when Gautam was only 6 or 7 years old. The actor has three stepbrothers, Rajesh, Rajendra and Sajendra, "who are all 'Gurjus'", and two stepsisters, Shobha and Shobna.

As an artist, Gautam is in his element putting on canvas colourful renderings of figurative and semi- abstract work. Many of his paintings have generously endowed women that even at first glance evoke a sense of rhythm and graceful movements. There are other works that are abstract in nature and depict beautiful landscapes. It is evident that the artist has an exceptional talent in the use of colour that is at once soothing and vibrant, which of course is not an easy thing to do. Gautam's paintings also contain an inherent sense of motion that makes each of his works come alive with freshness and vigour. His canvases cost between Rs. 7,000.00 to Rs. 80,000.00, depending upon size. He reveals, "Tom Crees, the renowned architect, bought six of my paintings for the Riverside Springs Resort in Kurintar, for which I received Rupees Four Lakhs."

He adds, "Park Village in Budanilkantha also has a collection of my work." However, he says frankly, "In Nepal, friends buy my paintings and Nepalese staying abroad also are my customers. In fact, just recently a Nepalese residing in Australia visited my gallery and when I said that the price of one of my paintings was $150, he seemed astonished and exclaimed, 'But that's cheap. I pay that much for one night's stay at the hotel!'"  Well, this perhaps reveals much about the value of art in Nepal.

As an actor, Gautam received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, in the 'Character Role' category from Nepal Kalakar Sangh. In the same year, he was also awarded with the title of 'Abhinya Ratna' by the same organization. The actor values these awards and especially more so that of 'Abhinya Ratna', which he proudly displays on his visiting cards. As an artist he has won the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes for his landscapes at Park Gallery at different times between the years 1972 to 1985. In the same period he also won the 1st prize for landscape painting from Swayambhu Bikash Mandal as well as in the Purba-Paschim Rajmarg painting competition. In 1989 Gautam won the Nepal Siksha Puraskar.

The talented artiste is founder executive member of Young Artists' Group, Kathmandu, a member of Artists' Society of Nepal and Srijana Contemporary Art Gallery as well as a number of other associations related to art and cinema. "In the early days, I was member of 'Mayalu Pariwar', a dramatic and dance society. It had as members, people like Basant Shrestha and Radheshyam Pradhan, besides other well know dancers." He adds, "Among musicians in the 'Pariwar' were Hutraj and Ganesh Shrestha."

Gautam has fond memories of his dancing days and says, "During the late King Birendra's coronation, we performed the 'Subha Bibha', a 'Shiv-Parbati' ballet, at the Royal Academy. The audience consisted of VVIPs from all over the world. The late King Mahendra and the late King Birendra were at the gate personally to receive the guests. You can imagine how honoured I was to get the opportunity to perform in such a setting and for such a distinguished audience!" Gautam was about 17 years then. He also remembers going to Dhaka for a performance during the 1st SAARC Summit. "King Birendra who attended the meet, knew each of us by name and chatted with us as almost equals. He was a great man." Gautam also recollects performing many times inside the Royal Palace as well as in various camps all over the country during Royal tours.

As he reminisces on his exciting past, Gautam's eyes get a faraway look and it is with an effort that he comes back to the present. But again, this is but for a short while, as he once again delves into the golden years, "I missed a chance to be a real super star, you know," he discloses. "I had played a double role in a Pakistani film that had a multi-star cast and included stars like Shiva Shrestha, Puran Joshi, Arjun Shahi, Sunil Thapa and Karishma Manandhar. Sadly, the film couldn't be shown here due to litigation among the financiers and even in Pakistan it had to be recalled after only four days of exhibition."

Well, while sympathizing with the dancer / villain / artist one can only say, 'Come on Mr. Gautam Ratna Tuladhar, you have been blessed with much more than is usually given to man. And as it is, your days of glory hardly seem to be over. Your art lives. The artist in you is in full bloom. Carry on with your characteristic vigour and rest assured, you will reach as fulfilling a milestone as you have achieved as a dancer and an actor.'