INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY
As far as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the people who created fictional worlds. In my case it began in my family, with two noted hindi writers. Some of their stories like ‘Sara Aakash’ and ‘Rajnigandha’ had led to the launch of ‘Indian parallel cinema’, a term I understood only later.
Lurking about my uncle and aunt and their famous friends, behind curtains, (during summer vacations in Hauz Khas, Delhi), I’d catch sights and snippets of conversation on Indian and Western literature, its creators and editors and sometimes glimpses of their movies and plays. Of course, a living room in New Delhi would never match the bustling ‘filmi’ town of Mumbai, and it was mainly ‘intellectual’ conversations, boisterous debates and interaction with the authors, actors, directors and about language, literature, theatre, good writing, acting and music rather than mere gossip.
Rest was Newspapers and film magazines – the other windows into the world of fictional worlds. Film magazines for instance had people – men and women, glamorous and beautiful every single time, red carpet or not. There wasn’t a hair out of place, a wrinkle in sight and all glow, as I later discovered, was the result of camera lights and heavy airbrushing.
With invention of Photoshop, ‘glamour’ reached new heights. And with that, vanished any disposition of reality. In Anthony Burgess’s words they were all now “stars in conscious glory, desperately shining” ; Their portrayed image to the world was a reserved right, which could be changed, but only strategically.
None of it, ironically, matched up to my eavesdropped conversations, loud debates, laughter and sightings of men and women from the film and literature world, in a smoke filled living room with a regular supply of tea, tobacco and whisky. More so, they were so at home and comfortable. It was only this reality of the a fictional world that made any sense to me.
Years later, I began to photograph people from the Indian film industry, with permission and with intention to find an insight into their true being or disposition and to get to know them through images. It could be off guard or in an environment which they were home at. Be it in their living rooms or at work.With family and friends or without.
With these images I have attempted to find an experience to the real side of people, just as they are. These are people who spend a lot of their time, with due credit (and for our entertainment) simulating the unreal.
PROJECT IN CONTINUATION
I am her niece Vivek. :) Thank you. Yes love both the book and the film. And thank you for liking the images. Regards Anusha
gotin to this website through a twitter link. i wonder if you are some relative of Manno Bhandari, rajnigandha was a beautiful novel and film. i am from Kerala. i sense humanism in your clicks –
regards
vivek
Hi anusha.. .nice exploration with light.. .love the shots with their serene ambiance.
& portraits are quite there.. .expressive.. .
keep klikin
girish
congratulations !!
:)
classy and poignant looking website ..