Zeenat Aman with son Zahaan and friend Zaheer Aslam at the Y. B. Chavan Art Gallery
(Afternoon Despatch & Courier - October 7, 1998)

Affordable art is the new mantra in town and nobody less than the glamorous Zeenat Aman is endorsing it. At Meher Bijlani's Affordable Art exhibition (Oct. 6-12) at the Y.B. Chawan Art Gallery last evening prices for paintings varied between Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 10,000 but not one of them exceeded the latter figure. So you can go laughing all the way to the bank. "It's wonderful to make art affordable to people who might not buy it under ordinary circumstances," said Ms. Aman. "Art is a thing of beauty," she said, indicating three panels by fresher Vijay Belgave that she has particularly liked at the venue. Ms.Aman, who admitted that she fancied Anjolie Ela Menon's works, doesn't possess any because they're on the pricey side.

Art Dealer Meher Bijlani discovered at her last fund-raiser for CRY, that people loved the paintings but so many went away disappointed because they couldn't afford the steep price tags that came with them. They couldn't even pay in installments or at a later date in these times of recession. So what better alternative than quality works at lowered prices?

Persuasion is the hinge on which Biijlani's modus operandi swivels.

So whether it's persuading a Lalitha Lajmi to scale her water colours to Rs. 10,000 or convincing S.G. Gurav that his oils on canvas can be reduced to the same amount, Bijlani has almost 200 paintings on display by artists as diverse as Yashwant Sonawane, Vandana Nanda, Shilpa Patole, Vaishali Narkar, Milind Phadke and Prashant Hirlekar.

"I've handpicked each work painstakingly and with considerable effort. Each work reflects the fact that I am not selling anything that I wouldn't buy myself. There are absolute freshers who've just graduated from the J.J. School of Art who're also represented here - for sheer talent," said Bijlani.

At the inauguration, works were fairly flying off their mounts. Young corporate couples as well as assortment of foreigners were caught hook, line and sinker in the profusion of art everywhere. Before you could say " Robert Mapplethorpe" you observed works being cello taped in corrugated brown paper and whisked away under your nose.

It was heady and not entirely unpleasant in a time when most people are dragging their feet about art.

Did Zeenat Aman buy anything? No, she didn't at least not to our knowledge. But her, son Zahaan and boyfriend Zaheer Aslam stayed on long past the photographers had stopped clicking and at a stage when the fizzy drinks were moving dangerously towards becoming as flat as our grandmother's heads. Perhaps it's more than just a passing interest, we say.

ART OF THE MATTER: Zeenat Aman and Meher Bijlani of Artquest look over the paintings exhibited at the Y.B. Chavan Art Gallery at Nariman Point on Tuesday after the former actress inaugurated the show, called Affordable Art. A photograph by Rahul Sonkusare
(Blitz, 11th October, 1998)

MUMBAI: If you thought paintings were meant only for the rich, here's a group that would like to change the way you think.

Artquest, a group which likes to believe that art need not be expensive, is holding a show at the Y.B. Chavan Art Gallery at Nariman Point with prices kept between Rs. 2,000 and Rs.10,000. Leading artists, including Brinda Chudasma Miller and Ganesh Chougule, are participating in the show with their fresh works.

According to Ms. Meher Bijlani of Artquest, "The exhibition will be a real bargain for art lovers who have so far shied away from buying real art due to the high prices." The show was inaugurated by former actress Zeenat Aman - last Tuesday and will continue till Monday.

(Afternoon Despatch & Courier, July 10, 2001)

Inspite of the rain gods wrecking vengeance, most of the last week, many artists and art-lovers ventured out to attend the inauguration of Meher Bijlani’s gallery ‘Artquest’, near Colaba Post Office, by none other than the beautiful Zeenat Aman, who happens to be Meher’s first cousin. Later the same evening, hubby Hiru Bijlani was at the door of their nearby apartment to welcome us as we trooped in, for cocktails and dinner.

First to be spotted were their neighbors, Simone Tata, Rati Murad Fyzee wih sister Dolly Chatterjee and Zarin Pereira. Swaran Kohli, a prominent public crusader, whose present focus is to beautify Marine Drive, was also there with her son and well known radiologist Dr. Anirudh Kohli and his wife Malvika, a practicing dermatologist. In the distance were Sushma and Kiran Motwane of Chicago Radio, the ever trim Manju Nanavati of Flex Appeal, business consultant Walter Viera with wife Celine and Veena and Babbo Malhotra. And then I got to chat a while with the ebullient Aditya Motwane of Percept D’Mark and his interior designer wife Laila. Meher’s younger daughter Tanya introduced me to her gracious grand-mother, Liaqat Jahan Begum and to her cousin, budding actress Sanober Kabir, whose three films are about to be released shortly.

Dinner comprised of many Mughlai dishes with plenty of discussion centering round Meher’s recent success, with her Kitchen Art collection shown at ‘Indigo’ restaurant and its feature in Elle Décor Magazine.

(Mid Day - July 2, 2001)

Zeenat Aman may have inaugurated Meher Bijlani’s revamped art gallery, Artquest in Colaba last evening, but the gorgeous actress

of yesteryear was just one of the lovely things at the exhibition.

She shared the limelight with paintings by John Fernandes, Anand Panchal, Prashant Hirlekar, Amrutraj Koban, Anant Mehta and Suruchi Chand among others, besides kitchen art, antique prints and miniature paintings.

Artquest has achieved what is set out to do, since it opened in 1998, like helping buyers make the right choice, and in terms of bringing new artists at an ‘affordable’ price.