All in 60 seconds! Mysuru artist paints Bhagat Singh upside down, creates record

Mysuru: What better occasion to pay tribute to Bhagat Singh, the revolutionary leader executed by the British when he was only 23, than Independence Day? But an artist from a remote village in Mysuru district may have paid him the fastest tribute ever by painting his portrait upside down in flat 60 seconds.

Twenty five-year-old Puneeth Kumar, a painter from Nadanahalli village in Mysuru district, has entered World Records India, a website, with his novel achievement. Although he has no formal training in painting, Puneeth , who teaches art at the Arnold Central School , has picked up several art styles and specialises in speed painting. In fact, he can paint any portrait within four minutes. A couple of years ago he did a portrait of Lord Anjayaneya in two minutes at the Yuva Dasara in Mysuru . Says he about his latest painting, “ Bhagat Singh being my favourite hero, I decided to paint his portrait upside down. Initially, I took four minutes to do it, but with practice, I can now do it in 60 seconds. I uploaded the video on the website of World Records India recently, and they have officially declared my effort a record.”

Puneeth has also done portraits of several Sandalwood stars like Srinath and Dananjaya , and litterateurs like Kuvempu. His work is featured over a stretch of 5 kms on the walls of the KRS road in Mysuru and he has held art shows in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, among other places.

“I want to make my village proud with my art and make it world famous. So I hope to perform in other countries too. I am preparing to enter the Guinness Book of World Records and I hope to start an institution to teach painting to underprivileged children soon,” he says with enthusiasm.