If the many tattoos that actress Shruti Haasan flaunts got you inspired, then here’s your chance of getting yourself one from her tattoo artist. Sameer Patange is in the city for Chennai’s first ever tattoo festival.
Sameer has inked tattoos for celebrities like Sanjay Dutt, Urmila Matondkar, Sushmita Sen, Hrithik and Suzanne Roshan. He has noticed how inking one’s current boy friend or girlfriend’s name can go horribly wrong. “Hence, I have made it a rule to not tattoo such things to begin with. It’s nothing personal. It’s because of the after effects and the agony these tattoos leave behind, once you have had a bitter fall out with your partner,” he says sensibly.
Sameer recalls how he had advised Sanjay Dutt to not tattoo his then girlfriend and now wife Maanyata’s name on his arms. “But he went ahead with it. Tattooing names wasn’t a trend at that time, and he mostly kept it hidden from the media,” says Sameer and also tells how the actor has five other tattoos engraved on his body.
Sameer is glad that the current tattoo trend in B’town is changing from ‘just cause it’s cool’ to more significant motifs.
“Kangana Ranaut’s tattoo at the nape of her neck represents three aspects of her life. The crown because she relates it to herself and feels she is a princess; the wings represent her desire for freedom, which led her to leave home and come to Mumbai, and the sword represents her struggle in the industry,” explains Sameer.
Although an artiste can’t pick favourites from his own creations, Sameer admits, “Tattoos done on my dear friend Sushmita Sen would always be some of my favourites because of the sheer depth of meaning they hold.” All six tattoos that she had Sameer draw for her range from carefully thought lines. “Sushmita has the word ‘temptation’ written on her forearm with a sword that runs through it. It shows how she has overcome all kinds of temptations in life,” Sameer points out.
