In my head, i always start with a story. I always manage to
carve out a space for myself in any work i do, so as to not loose myself and my
identity which i wish to communicate with the work. People keep complaining
about how difficult it is to be yourself in commercial works, but i have always
found it easy to mould myself in the given box and then slowly pushing myself
forward to break it. Luckily it gets accepted as fluidly and organically like the process i indulge in for any creative
project.
I am juggling many projects professionally and personally
recently, constantly stimulating me to push my boundaries and explore what i
can do with my ability to understand and execute aesthetics. My aesthetics has
always rooted from 'nostalgia'..i have this innate urge to make everything i do
look and feel used, lived in and narrative.
This particular series was photographed for 'Anupamaa'. Her
gulabi collection is as bright and lively it can get. Like the flowers in
springtime. As usual we started with a story and took the shoot forward with a narration.
The story of 'Gulabi', A woman who waits for the night to bloom as she wears
every treasure she owns and roams around in the Haveli in anticipation.
The idea eventually became more romantic as we moved
forward, the wait became for a lover. We
wanted to capture the process of a woman who is getting ready for her lover and
capture that anticipation and nervous energy while she goes through time.
Affcourse the story of Gulabi and her haunting inside the
Haveli remained in my head. I revisited the shoot and tried to bring in the
feeling i got when i first visited the haveli before the shoot. The haveli is
situated in Munirka Village. It is owned by one of the Jat landlord of the
area. For some reason no one lives there anymore. The remains were numerous
medals and photographs of a man who must have been a swimming champion at some
time. His photographs were everywhere one of them alongside Amitabh Bacchan.
The old blazer hung on the brick wall with a very dusty cloth on it for
protection. The chaarpais were as casually unkept as if the man decided to just
leave the space one day while he was doing a mundane chore,never to return. The
haveli looked like someone just left it and never looked back, never looked
back to come collect the pictures, never looked back to shift some of the furniture's
and never revisited to revisit memories.
As if a lover left and never looked back to what happened to
'Gulabi' and she was left iternally waiting in anticipation.
