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V. Gangadhar

With her Harmony show, Tina Ambani provides a platform for up and coming artists. It's a show that enthralls Mumbai's art lovers.

Acknowledged as India's largest private exhibition of contemporary art, Tina Ambani's `Harmony' show, in April this year, at the Nehru Centre, attracted 125 artists from all over India and enthralled Mumbai's art lovers. Explains Tina, the chairperson of the show, "The number of entries is going up every year and this year touched nearly 500. We needed preliminary screenings to select the best. As usual, the entries varied from the well known to the unknown and we had nearly 50 newcomers who responded this year." The Harmony Excellence Award (a sum for Rs 1 lakh) was bagged by 35-year-old Ratnadeep Advrekar, whose theme revolved around the teachings of Gandhiji.

`Harmony' derived its name from the furnishings product division of the Ambani-owned Reliance Industries. It was an association of ideas, she says. "The Harmony range of furnishing fabrics was also an attempt to evolve a harmony, between the aesthetics of modern day living, fine art and the new generation technology. The emergence of a product like Harmony, which brought art into the realm of lifestyle products, needed to be celebrated. What better way than through a comprehensive art exhibition?"

Since its inception in 1996, the show has not looked back. The number of entries, the number of visitors, the quality of work and the fame of the show have gone up. The exhibition has dealt with different themes — The Spirit of India, Harmony, the Essence of Life, Art and Fashion. Two awards were instituted in 1998, the Harmony Excellence Award for the Emerging Artist of the Year', a sum of Rs 1 lakh, and the `Harmony Heritage Award for Lifetime Contribution to Art, Culture and Literature' worth Rs 2 lakh.

Always innovative, Tina, in 2002, provided a platform for `Aseema', an NGO engaged in the rehabilitation and education of street children. Thirty street children displayed their talent through innovative works of art and craft. The proceeds from the show went towards helping `Aseema'. "I am a positive thinker," declares Tina, who has achieved harmony in real life too, that includes a glittering screen career in Bollywood and later on becoming a daughter-in-law of India's most prosperous and talked about industrial family. Youngest in a family of nine, Tina was a `Femina Miss Teen' and was a hit from her first film, Des Pardes. Slim, cool and chic, she played the sophisticated city girl to perfection and displayed a flair for light, romantic comedy. "Films were one part of my life," she recollects.

She later studied Interior Designing and Computer Technology in the US. The romance with Anil Ambani was much talked about, but the couple took their own time, and only three years after their first meeting, did they decide that they were made for each other. "The commitment was there on both sides, but we felt it was not necessary to rush things."

For Tina, her home comes first. She personally runs the household, supervises the schoolwork of her two sons and, of course, `takes care' of Anil who has supported her through all her endeavours. She now plans to take a more active interest in helping senior citizens. Well, you can be sure she will bring additional harmony into their lives.

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