EXCLUSIVE: Santanu Hazarika opens up on moving in with girlfriend Shruti Haasan, marriage & his art exhibition
Shruti Haasan and Santanu Hazarika have been dating for a while now and share a common passion for art and music.
Even while Santanu Hazarika is in the news for his relationship with actress Shruti Haasan, he is also a popular doodle artist and is currently promoting his first ever ongoing art exhibition in South Mumbai. While he has done a few shows and some unconventional exhibitions in India and abroad earlier, this is the first time that he has organised a solo exhibition of his work in a fine art gallery.
Talking about his inspiration, Santanu informs, “When the pandemic started everything got locked down, everyone was inside, and all my projects got cancelled because of the whole situation. I always wanted to do my own personal exhibition, a solo show, as earlier I have always collaborated with musicians and brands, but this was something which was very personal. So when the lockdown started I got more time to reflect on my art form, my inspiration, and how far I have come with my practice.”
So he went back to his old sketchbooks and his drawings which he did when he had just started off during his engineering days. “I started studying them and realised that maybe it's time I showcase the true art form that I practise, which rarely I put it out, or maybe just commercialise it. So I sat down and started translating my old sketches into larger canvases. It took me around a year to work on it. This body of work is a reflection of my turbulent past as I had to overcome a lot of stigmas and a lot of personal struggles to be where I am today and become an artist,” shares Santanu, who had been a visual artist for many years now.
His exhibition is titled ‘BLCK’ which is inspired from the colour black. It also happens to be his and Shruti’s favourite colour. “We both are big time metalheads and love metal music. In fact my entire childhood has been spent listening to it, and one colour that represents metal is black. So yes, both of us are metalheads, we love the colour back, and it is a natural favourite for both of us,” he informs.
Right now we have started dating, we love each other, and are involved in a lot of creative processes
Santanu Hazarika talks about Shruti Haasan
Santanu and Shruti have been dating for a while and he admits that they do get a lot of marriage related questions. “Right now we have started dating, we love each other, and are involved in a lot of creative processes like making art, music, influencing each other in different ways and means, and even designing clothes. So it’s more of a creative journey for both of us and we both feed off each other’s creative energies. That is something that is really inspiring and pushes us forward. Like I am always inspired by her and she tells me that she is also inspired by me, and that is the kind of relationship we have,” he states.
Santanu says they have a very artistic relationship. “There is not even a single day that we are bored of certain things. We make it a point that we have at least a creative conversation in everything that we do, and that’s more important than thinking about marriage. This is a marriage of creativity,” he adds.
Has moving in together helped them strengthen their bond further? “Yes, because we are very much like best friends and have so much fun together. The best thing about us is that we can be in the same room for hours, and be there in our own comfort zone rather than getting irritated, disturbed, or maybe feeling uncomfortable. That’s not there because we are best of friends,” Santanu explains.
Meanwhile, he was also involved as a creative director for title design with Shruti’s recently released show, Bestseller. “I knew the showrunner, so he approached me to give my creative inputs on the title sequence which is very important and crucial for a project. It's the presentation of the entire series. So I went with the idea, and made my debut as a creative director for title design with this series,” he concludes.