When artist Salva Rasool met with jeweller

After a six-hour search on Friday at the residence of film and television actress Sonika Gill for her husband Mitesh Rughani, the Khar police had almost given up their hunt; Rughani, accused of duping a jeweller to the tune of Rs 81 lakh, could not be found anywhere in the flat.

As the police were about to leave, Inspector Chagan Jadhav realised that the toilet too could not be found anywhere in the flat. High drama was to follow at the MHADA flat in Versova after this. The inspector questioned Gill about the missing toilet, but she responded with silence.

Jadhav’s suspicious gaze then fell on a cupboard placed near the kitchen. He asked Gill to open it but she refused to, saying the police would destroy her expensive wardrobe. With the police persisting, she finally opened the cupboard but would not allow the cops to touch anything inside.

As she would not budge, the Khar police asked the Versova police to send in more female staff to deal with Gill. The women police forced Gill to move away from the cupboard while the police searched it. To their surprise they found a door in the back of the cupboard. This led to a passage that in turn led to a toilet where Rughani was found hiding.

This was not all; police found that Rughani had built many secret passages and cavities in his flat where he could hide. Inspector Jadhav of the Khar police said: “We have arrested Rughani in a case of cheating, and jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh has also been recovered. He tried a lot to dodge us and evade arrest but could not succeed.”

According to the police, 38-yearold Rughani, a builder, had married Gill three months ago, and was residing with her in the MHADA apartment in Versova. In March he had taken gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs. 81 lakh from Adi Jewellers of Khar, promising to return it after showing it to his first wife Kinjal Rughani, a co-accused in the case.

The complainant Dilip Ranka, owner of the jewellery store, was at first reluctant to hand over the jewellery, but did so on the insistence of his cousin Praveen Ranka. Rughani later disappeared with the jewellery. Two days ago, Dilip Ranka registered a complaint with the Khar police against Rughani and his wife Kinjal.

The police got to know that Rughani stayed with his third wife Gill and immediately raided her flat. At first, Gill, refused to let cops in. It was after negotiating with her for a long while and after threatening her with arrest that she finally opened the door.

When artist Salva Rasool met with jeweller Aneel Gajaria a few months back, she was sceptical about her paintings being incorporated into jewellery. But Gajaria has been in the jewellery business since the age of 17 and foresaw creative possibilities in Rasool’s work.

“I first wasn’t interested in the project because I couldn’t imagine working on a cloth of two to three inches,” says Rasool, miming with two fingers how tiny the support was. “My paintings are colourful and powerful because I apply vibrant textures on a large canvas.”

But Gajaria insisted on meeting the artist. “When he showed me his creations, I was very impressed and had to take on the challenge,” the 49-year-old artist recalls.

Four years ago, Gajaria got the idea of introducing painting in statement jewellery when he met with local artists during a pilgrimage to Rajasthan. The quality and precision of their paintings, which displayed romantic and devotional Indian scenes, left him awe-struck. He imagined using a miniature canvas of these traditional scenes in necklaces.

“But I knew my clients from the Gulf wouldn’t wear jewellery with human forms,” explains Gajaria, who lived in Dubai as a child and was trained by a Muslim mentor. “So I was looking for an artist who would offer something unique in the field of Islamic art.”

An alumna of Sir JJ School of Art, Rasool has won worldwide appreciation for her modern approach to Arabic calligraphy with an Indian spirit. Her paintings have been displayed from Toronto to Jakarta, including the art hubs of New York, London, Tehran and Mumbai.

“The ‘Allah’ pendant has been traditionally worn by many Muslims, but this is the first time Islamic art has been made contemporary for fashion and jewellery,” says Gajaria.

Convinced by the jewellery’s potential and appeal, he commissioned five artworks from Rasool last January. To paint on a canvas of 3x2 inches, the artist creates her own tools such as small metal pieces, cut nibs and shaped opposite-ends of brushes, among others. In the coming months, two necklaces will be exhibited at an art show in the US, and three new creations will be unveiled by Gajaria.

Every miniature is customised, signed and certified by Rasool, making each necklace a work of art. The price depends on the precious metal and pearls Gajaria uses,wholesale fashion shoes and each piece is estimated between Rs40,000 and one lakh.

Although most of her work includes Koranic verses or letters of the Arabic alphabet, Rasool’s audience is broad, and her clients are mostly based in the West. The use of earthy colour and abstract elements in her paintings has even appealed to Indian lovers of contemporary art.

In pushing the traditional boundaries of Arabic calligraphy, Rasool aims at reaching out to a cosmopolitan crowd and dispelling misconceptions of Islam through art.

Just back from Toronto where she had her fourth solo show, Rasool is working on her upcoming exhibition in South Africa where her paintings will be displayed at the end of this year. And these neckpieces might also seduce some trendsetting South Africans.
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