“On a film set, if you are a part of the ‘labour’ class, the food you get is different; a separate table is set for you. You are not entitled to drink mineral water” – Fawzan Husain

A lot of photographers use computer technology now to enhance or embellish their pictures… To each his own, it is a creative form too, and people come out with beautiful abstract images. Of course amazing things can be done with computer graphics. But eventually, it is not an image that came out of a camera, Read More">Read More

A lot of photographers use computer technology now to enhance or embellish their pictures…
To each his own, it is a creative form too, and people come out with beautiful abstract images. Of course amazing things can be done with computer graphics. But eventually, it is not an image that came out of a camera, but one that was conjured up out of a computer. I may do it when I am 60 and have no energy. While I have the time, I want to go out and shoot.

Well known photographer Fawzan Husain’s very unusual behind-the-scenes look at Bollywood, forms his highly acclaimed exhibition of photographs under the theme Silver Screen, Read More">which has been traveling to several cities. IndiaFM talks to the man behind the lens. What was the germ of the new Silver Screen show? Bollywood has been on my mind forRead More

Well known photographer Fawzan Husain's very unusual behind-the-scenes look at Bollywood, forms his highly acclaimed exhibition of photographs under the theme Silver Screen, which has been traveling to several cities. IndiaFM talks to the man behind the lens.

What was the germ of the new Silver Screen show?
Bollywood has been on my mind for a while now. Govind Nihalani asked me to take pictures of Dev for a book he was planning. I spent long stretches of time on his shoots. I got to see the movie world in a really close way; how sets are made and destroyed, characters' make-up, the role of choreography, I started observing it and I liked what I saw. I needed time to understand how a dream is churned out. The ground reality is quite different, see how shots are taken, how people work, and I am still working on it. I have been shooting on and off, it is difficult to convince specially the big banners to let me hang out on the sets. But I have images from about 20 films that are part of my Silver Screen exhibition.

But this show drove me bonkers. Their lighting is different. After spending days on a set, there is no guarantee that I will get a picture of my liking. I have spent the maximum time working on this show, never sure what I was going to get. Since I was not getting paid, a lot of people wondered what I was doing there. They would call me "Still Dada" and I realized that the photographer doing the stills on the set does not get the kind of respect due to him.

On a film set, if you are a part of the 'labour' class, the food you get is different; a separate table is set for you. You are not entitled to drink mineral water. There is a clean divide between A class and C class and a photographer is somewhere between the A and C class. If you go on the set as a journalist, you are pampered but you don't get to see the nitty-gritty of how things function. As a Still Dada your table is set away from the stars. There is a great disparity that I saw, understood and learnt. In any case, I wandered around the fringes, I never tried to get close to the actors or stars. I had to remain as aloof as possible to get what I wanted. It was an eye-opener for me and I have tried to deglamorize the whole thing. There is too much glamour associated with Bollywood.

Any other problems and challenges with this project? Access was the biggest problem. You shoot Holi, Muharram whatever, nobody asks questions. But here the biggest problem is to get the producer or director to understand what you want. Pritish Nandy understood, Tanuja Chandra also gave me a free hand, Read More">but Madhur Bhandarkar did not. HeRead More

Any other problems and challenges with this project?
Access was the biggest problem. You shoot Holi, Muharram whatever, nobody asks questions. But here the biggest problem is to get the producer or director to understand what you want.

Pritish Nandy understood, Tanuja Chandra also gave me a free hand, but Madhur Bhandarkar did not. He thinks you are a press guy so shoot and go! I explained that I want to understand the character of the set. Understand the people and then I gradually get inside the circuit. I may not even get a picture on the first day. Madhur was surprised to see me the second day and he said, "I can't let you hang around my set."

Govind Nihalani, who is a cameraman himself, understands your and his requirements. It was a great experience working with him. His style, I find, is camera perfect. I also found Naseeruddin Shah and his cinematographer Hemant Chaturvedi very meticulous in their approach and would like to work with them again. While with Madhur, his USP is research, his camerawork is crass. If he doesn't understand camerawork, he won't understand a cameraman and his requirements.

Sriram Raghavan was a big help too, and he gave me full access and co-operation on his sets of Johnny Gadar.

Once a star is on the sets everybody reacts; there is a sudden churning on the set. My focus is on that reaction, not on the star.

These days Bollywood people are so wary of photographers. I make them understand my project, some relent and I was grateful for their help and support. But many refused, especially the big banners. So I see it as a challenge, especially since I don't need stars. I notice that once a star is on the sets everybody reacts; there is a sudden churning on the set. My focus is on that reaction, not on the star.

You didn’t want to shoot stars? My approach was different. I was doing different things on location. If you know what you want you are not waylaid by the glamour. When I see glamour on the set, Read More">I shoot only if it it’s my requirement. I might shoot an actress but have her out ofRead More

You didn't want to shoot stars?
My approach was different. I was doing different things on location. If you know what you want you are not waylaid by the glamour. When I see glamour on the set, I shoot only if it it’s my requirement. I might shoot an actress but have her out of focus. For example, on Sudhir Mishra's set, I shot a guy who was throwing dry leaves in front of a fan, while the actress Soha Ali Khan is in the background. This guy was creating a storm out of nowhere and to me he was more important than the star.

If you read the resumes of a lot of cinematographers, they invariably started as photographers. Did you ever consider trying the other camera? When there was a TV boom, I had umpteen offers to move to the electronic camera, as they call it. But for me, a still holds more value, Read More">because it is aRead More

If you read the resumes of a lot of cinematographers, they invariably started as photographers. Did you ever consider trying the other camera?
When there was a TV boom, I had umpteen offers to move to the electronic camera, as they call it. But for me, a still holds more value, because it is a moment you capture. I was told there is more money in electronic media, but there is so much more I want to do with stills. I have also invested too much time and equipment to move to a new medium. I am not yet bored with still photography. When I take out my camera, I know that it will be an exciting day and that keeps me going.