Essence of <i>Dor</i> from the lenses of Shreyas

By Staff

Published: Friday, April 19, 2024, 18:43 [IST]

Courtesy: IndiaFM
Monday, September 25, 2006
IndiaFM brings to you an exclusive gallery straight from the lenses of Shreyas Talpade. These pictures were taken by the actor while he was shooting in Rajasthan for his film Dor directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. Shreyas was gracious enough to give us a part of his creative work and also let us know what he was thinking while he captured the beauty of Rajasthan. Here's Shreyas' journey in the world of sand and dune.

Photography is a small voice, at best, but sometimes one photograph, or a group of them, can lure our sense of awareness.

"This picture is clicked by Sudeep Chatterjee, the cinematographer. He is my guru in photography and helped me a lot. He was giving me lessons and teaching me different things like exposure, shutter speed, etc. There is a wall behind me and Sudeep told me to look down. He then played with the exposure and I really loved it."

She glances at the photo, and the pilot light of memory flickers in her eyes.

"This is the Pokhran palace in the background which is now converted into a museum. Look at Gul Panag's smirk in the picture. There is a story behind that as well. If you look closely, behind there is a person. She is the executive producer Elahe Hiptoola. She wasn't keeping all that well that day and was yelling at someone over there. Both Gul and I were laughing at the situation. Gul was looking at Elahe and I called her to look at me and hence the smile on her face."

Photography to me is catching a moment which is passing, and which is true.

"Now this is the man in action right there. That is Sudeep behind the camera and was busy working. To the left is the clapper boy Rohan. The bicycle was just parked there and at first I though of shooting through the spokes and focusing on Sudeep but then changed my mind. I decided to focus on the tyre instead. When Sudeep saw the picture he told me that he was out-focused. And I said that happens when you focus on something else. This is my favourite picture as I think is very good."

When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, you will know you are on the right track.

"That's Vibhu the assistant director wearing the bandana, then Gul, then Sudeep and finally Nagesh. There was a sandstorm outside and we were forced to stop work. We waited a long time and finally the crew had to strategize something else as there wasn't much grace period. We are inside the resort and in the backdrop are rooms. The situation outside was very bad and we were lucky to be inside the resort. In this particular picture I played with the exposure and you can see the results."

Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.

"That is the long corridor in Pokhran palace where we stayed during the shoot. This picture is shot just outside my room. If you see, it has beautiful architecture, the pillars are strong and you know that a lot of hard-work has been put into making this. However, even though the sun is shining, there is a haunting feeling in this corridor. It is as if some unknown force is there and you never know what it has to say to you. There is an element of mystery there and you definitely don't feel secure."

Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay.

"This is the view from the passage where the corridor is. To the left is the fort temple and to the right is the white balcony. The white balcony was a watch point in the olden days. You can get the entire view of the village from there and that is how the Maharaja used to keep a look-out. That place feels nice and some nice breeze blows over there. I randomly captured this photograph and luckily it came out good."

Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.

"This was my room and also the royal suite in the Pokhran fort and palace. It is one of their finest rooms and the area which you see is the bathroom area. To the left is a wash basin along with a huge mirror. I heard a story that some people had come to design this room and said that nothing could be done of this. So the owner, a lady took up the task herself and did a wonderful job out of it. There are coloured glasses in the background and proper ventilation as well. When it is really hot the sun shines on the basin while in the evening it is totally on the other side."

Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.

"I really like this photograph. Sudeep got this scene made really nicely. There is a lone fire and a hut in the middle of nowhere. This hut was actually designed by the art department for the film. There are a few bushes behind and a huge sand dune. We were not allowed to be near the dune as it would ruin the frame. If you observe carefully, the sky is slowly turning black. After a very hot day, the sun has gone down and there is a sense of calmness all around."

(As told to Praveen Lance Fernandes)