A self-taught artist, Muqbool Fida Husain was born in 1915 in Maharashtra. At an early age he learnt the art of calligraphy and practiced the Kulfic khat with its geometric forms. He also learnt to write poetry while staying with an uncle in a madrasa in Baroda, an art that has stayed with him through his life. His early education was perfunctory but Husain's love of drawing was evident even at this stage. Whenever he got a chance he would strap his painting gear to his bicycle and drive out to the surrounding countryside of Indore to paint the landscape. In 1937 he reached Mumbai determined to become an artist, with hardly any money and lived m a cheap room in a by lane inhabited by pimps and prostitutes. Initially Husain apprenticed himself to a painter of cinema hoardings which he would paint with great dexterity perched on scaffolding sometimes in the middle of traffic.

Goa: After protests from Hindu right wing organisations, a screening of exiled artist MF Husain's documentary Through The Eyes of a Painter was deferred on Tuesday at the ongoing International Film Festival of India in Goa.

“Some organisations in Goa petitioned to the Chief Minister and other organisations that anything concerning Husain should not be screened here. Perhaps because they have some allergy against Husain, I can't say. They didn't say anything about the content of the film. It was only that MF Husain's film should not be shown. It could have become a law and order problem, so the government of Goa recommended this screening should be put off,” says Director Directorate of Festivals SM Khan.

The 18-minute documentary which narrates the artist's experiences in Rajasthan, was a part of the Film Division of India's "Framing Time" section at the Festival this year.

Produced by Husain in 1966, the film has been screened at several international film festivals over the years and also took the prestigious Golden Lion for Short Films at Berlin in 1967.

The film community present in Goa, expressed outrage over the Festival's decision to defer the screening, and expressed support for the artist-filmmaker too.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the transfer of the case against M.F. Husain for his nude paintings of Hindu goddesses from the court of the Special Judicial Magistrate in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, to a court here.

In May, SJM K.S. Shukla directed the Mumbai police to attach the painter’s properties. On a petition from Mr. Husain, seeking transfer of the case to Delhi, the apex court stayed the trial.

Pointing out that the apex court had already transferred five such cases to a court in Delhi, he wanted the present case also to be shifted.

On Wednesday, a Bench comprising Justices B.N. Agrawal and P.P. Naolekar, allowed the petition and shifted the case to Patiala court in the capital.

Mr. Shukla had directed the police to attach Mr. Husain’s property on the ground that he repeatedly failed to respond to summons to appear.

Advocate Arvind Shrivastava had filed a case against Mr. Husain in the Haridwar district court in March 2006 for allegedly depicting Hindu goddesses in an obscene manner.

He accused Mr. Husain of outraging religious sentiments, promoting enmity between different religious groups, selling obscene material and disturbing national integrity, thereby committing offences under several sections of the Indian Penal Code.

After living in self-imposed exile for four years following a spate of litigation against him for his paintings of Hindu goddesses, India’s iconic artist M.F. Husain has accepted the offer by Qatar to confer its nationality on him.

“He has accepted Qatar’s offer for citizenship and the formalities are under process,” Owais Husain, the legendary artist’s son living in Dubai told The Hindu.

In an exclusive write-up on Thursday, the paper had reported that Mr. Husain had been offered Qatari citizenship.