Painter- Filmmaker Manoj Mauryaa was awarded Raja Ravi Varma Award for his contribution to the field of art and culture. The award ceremony was organised in New Delhi in association with the Ministry of Culture, Delhi Police, and Megh Mandal Sansthan to commemorate Raja Ravi Varma’s 174th birth anniversary as a part of Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and Platinum Jubilee of Delhi Police. Manoj received the award at the hands of G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Culture, Tourism, Professor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Former Governor of Punjab, Haryana and Tripura, and Rakesh Asthana, Commissioner of Police, Delhi. There was an exhibition of paintings of Raja Ravi Varma at the event. Manoj’s painting titled ‘The War of Existence’ was selected to be a part of the Ministry of Culture.
Vimlesh Brijwall (Secretary, Megh Mandal Sansthan), Ramavarma Thampuran (General Secretary, ‘Kilimanoor Palace Trust’ and a descendent of Raja Ravi Verma), Sonal Mansingh (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha), Anu Asthana (President, PFWS), Sanjay Beniwal (Special CP Perception Management) and many other notable artists and senior police officers also graced the occasion. G Kishan Reddy congratulated Manoj Mauryaa and conveyed his sincere appreciation to the artists on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Manoj’s paintings evoke surreal realism and are thought-provoking, figurative, and mystic. Manoj takes inspiration from nature, spirituality, current affairs, philosophy, women, and Benaras, his city of birth and graduation. Manoj has participated in various solo and group exhibitions at prestigious galleries like Nehru Centre, Mumbai, Lalit Kala Vibhag, Varanasi, NGMA, and Kala Ghoda, Mumbai. His solo exhibition in Mumbai titled ‘Reborn’ at Nehru Art Gallery received rave reviews from the critics and the masses for his style of painting as well as for the social experiment wherein he invited blind students and made them ‘see’ and create paintings.
As a filmmaker, Manoj has written and directed a German Feature Film based on the journey of a musical dyslexic florist who becomes a soloist in a symphony orchestra. The film shot and produced in Germany shall be released in Europe. His Hindi feature film titled ‘The Icecake’ is an adventurous journey about 12 Indian motorcycle riders to Himalayan Spiti valley who discover their inner mysticism while battling treacherous weather, interpersonal conflicts, treachery, revenge, and love. The film has real stunts performed on Spiti valley’s toughest and highest motorable road, where temperatures dropped below -15C.
His upcoming project is a painting and film project based on ‘Kamasutra’ for which he is developing a new series of paintings. He is also working on a European film.