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Sunil Khilnani tells the story of the painter Amrita Sher-Gil \\u2013 20th century India\\u2019s first art star \\u2013 who died under shrouded circumstances in 1941 at the age of just 28.

Sher-Gil left a vortex of stories behind her: about her narcissism and her love affairs. But even more compelling than the stories are the canvasses she left behind.

Drawing from European artists like Cezanne, Gauguin, and Brancusi, and from Indian ones \\u2013 the makers of the Buddhist wall paintings in the caves of Ajanta, and the minature painters of the Pahari tradition \\u2013 Amrita Sher-Gil managed to do something radical within Indian culture: to declare her own vision \\u2013 a woman\\u2019s vision \\u2013 vital in the history of art.

She endowed successive generations of Indians with something scarce in the culture: an example of an autonomous, creative female.

Featuring interviews with artists Bharti Kher and Vivan Sundaram.

Readings by Sheenu Das.

Producer: Martin Williams \\nExecutive Producer: Martin Smith \\nOriginal music composed by Talvin Singh