Calendars get a facelift thanks to young designers from different walks of life

Thematically designed table-top calendars for 2022 have many takers in Kerala

It is time to turn a new leaf. After struggling with the pandemic, it is time to move on. Those designing calendars that go beyond pictures of gods, landscapes and cute photos are surprised by the demand for desk calendars with a difference. Calendar girls and guys with toned bodies have given way to legendary villains from Malayalam cinema, famous authors in the language, art forms of Kerala, story-telling traditions and so on. From artists and architects to self-taught artists and photographers are designing calendars with a difference.

Artist Vishnu Madhav a.k.a Pencilashan has designed two thematic calendars. One, called ‘Priyapetta Super Villains in Malayalam Cinema’, brings alive immortal negative characters from the seventies onwards. Starting with caricatures of Mammootty’s Bhaskara Patelar (Vidheyan) and Mohanlal’s Narendran (Manjil Virinja Pookal), there are caricatures of Philomina’s Anappara Achamma (Godfather), Babu Antony as ‘gangleader’ (Douthyam), Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair as the sorcerer in My Dear Kuttichathan, KPAC Lalitha’s Malavika (Aadyathe Kanmani), Rizabawa’s John Honayi (In Harihar Nagar) and so on. Two characters have been illustrated on each leaf of the calendar, which has the name of the character, the movie, the actor and the year of the film’s release.