Khanna & Sons

As millennial artist Viraj Khanna closes his third successful solo show, we present creative banter with him, his fashion designer mum Anamika Khanna and twin Vishesh

- Lubna Salim

 

For artist Viraj Khanna, life with his mother, the fashion designer Anamika Khanna, and twin brother, Vishesh Khanna, has become the perfect example of the Hindi proverb, ghar ki murgi dal barabar home-cooked chicken tastes as ordinary as dal).

Viraj’s art has not only been critically lauded, but sold out at gallery shows in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai. He has been praised by revered painter Jogen Chowdhury, who gushed about how interesting, unique and mature he finds Viraj’s work. But the story back home is different.

“Vishesh and mum Anamika] constantly criticise everything I do! Their brutal honesty about my work is very humbling,” Viraj laughs. People might really like a certain work, but mum and Vishesh will literally say burn it’ if they don’t like it!”

ACCIDENTAL ARTIST

Life in a household of creative people can sometimes, honestly, be a bit nuts. But until the lockdown of 2020, at least one of these three people had never claimed to be creative. This person is Viraj, who is genuinely an accidental artist. When all work stopped in the lockdown, but Anamika’s Instagram page still had to be updated, Viraj thought it might be a good idea to create and upload collages of the magazine coverage of Anamika’s couture. Though he never claimed to be creative, Vishesh has always been interested in art and photography; Viraj then asked Vishesh to create the collages.

But in the pushback common between siblings, Vishesh refused. He said, Why should I do it? You do it!’ And I thought, let me give it a shot. That was my first stint with art,” shares Viraj.