Mammootty's bulbul bird photo - bid for so many lakhs?
On the occasion of the centenary of the famous ornithologist and writer Hindusudan, a photo exhibition of birds was held at ernakulam Durbar Hall by Hindusudan Foundation. The exhibition, titled 'Badi Phailunna Malayalam', featured 61 photographs taken by 23 photographers including actor Mammootty.
Mammootty had taken a photograph of a native Red-vented bulbul resting on the leaf of a jackfruit tree with his camera and sent it to the exhibition. He had also signed the photo. The photographs were auctioned last Sunday, the closing day of the exhibition. Mammootty's photo of the bird was put up for auction at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery.
The starting price was announced as Rs.1 lakh. Kotakkal lena Group Chairman achu Inadhil, who participated in the photo, initially raised the bid to two and a half lakhs. Then some others bid higher in the auction. Subsequently, mammootty paid three lakh rupees to own the photograph of the bird.
Achu said that this photo will be placed on the wall of the newly built luxury hotel. VK Sriraman, a member of the foundation and an actor, said that the proceeds from the auction will be used for various activities of the Hindusudan Foundation.
VK Sriraman also said, "We told actor mammootty about holding a photo exhibition of birds. He excitedly said he would give a photo and sent this photo. We took a print of the photo, recorded Mammootty's signature, framed it and put it in the exhibition. The audience looked at the photo with interest. He happily asked mammootty to auction the picture for the activities of the Hindusudan Foundation. After learning about the birds, Hindusudan published a book called 'Kerala's Birds' and the ideas in it We are going to take it among the students," he said.