Prisma photo editor launches Indian-themed filters
New filters in photo-editing app Prisma will have an Indian touch.
Prisma, the phone photo editing app that transforms pictures into various styles, is set to include an Indian flavour in its filters.
Prisma, a photo editing software that, through neural networks and artificial intelligence, allows users to turn their pictures into works of art, has caught the world’s fancy since its launch in June, earlier this year. The brush strokes and aesthetic of filters used to edit the pictures has included the likes of Dutch painter Van Gogh, the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and Russian painter Isaac Levitan. Recently, the app brought out new filters inspired by the classical dance forms and art from India. Among the Asian cultures and artists that had previously been picked up as style inspirations are filters with names like Tokyo, Mononoke and Wave.
Bringing to the world the vibrancy of Indian heritage, Prisma has left Indians and lovers of the Indian culture excited. Some of the filters are particularly interesting and are being shared widely on social media sites. These include the dance form Kathakali, artist MF Hussain and Horn Ok Please, a popular catchphrase in the truck art of India. The kathakali filter has taken its inspiration from the classical Indian dance form originating in Kerala, a state in southern India. Kathakali is an art form that shows stories or plays through the performance of dance, known also for its vibrant colours that are elaborately used in the make-up, costumes and face masks of performers. Themes of the dance are almost always focused on mythology, folk stories, legends of religion as well as spiritual discourses from Hindu epics and Puranas. The kathakali filter in Prisma thus attempts to bring forth the dramatic and vibrant dance form.
Another beautiful filter inspired by India is the MF Hussain filter, which is to honour one of the leaders of the Progressive Artists’ Movement in India. Hussain’s paintings, essentially modern in its form and inspired by cubist elements, has spanned through topics of social interest to religion. Central characters of Hussain’s paintings have been Mother Teresa, Gandhi, as well as scenes depicting Hindu texts of Ramayana and Mahabharata. The filter attempts to add a modernist twist to pictures.
The filter called Thota Vaikuntam, inspired by the classical folk paintings that the artist made, is set to bring in simplicity. With primary colours tastefully applied to pictures, this filter pays homage to the humble art of Vaikuntam who chose villagers and rural landscapes in India as his subjects.
The Horn Ok Please filter has also left art enthusiasts excited, as it is inspired by truck art from India. Horn OK Please is a phrase found painted on a large number of trucks across the country, in numerous styles. Neon colours and a pop-art feeling are set to be the main aspects of this filter.
The launch of the new India-inspired filters by Prisma is an innovative way of reviving conversations about classical dance, vibrant art and distinct art forms of India.
