On Tuesday April 3rd, stunning Bollywood star and former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai launched a new exhibition of photographs entitled ‘Faces’ at Drury Lane’s Bollywood inspired restaurant - Sitaaray. The photographs are part of a tribute to the stars of Indian cinema by legendary photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha that will be on display at the restaurant during April.
Sitaaray – a restaurant that celebrates India’s two greatest exports - its cuisine and its cinema, with its enchanting décor and delicious food, kick started their festivities to commemorate 75 years of Indian cinema, with a dinner for IIFA Ambassador and Superstar of the Millennium - Amitabh Bachchan last Wednesday. The ‘Faces’ exhibition is a showcase of imagery from Gautam Rajadhyaksha, who has captured the greatest icons of Indian cinema from actors Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan to Bollywood beauties Shilpa Shetty and Aishwarya Rai in his unique and celebrated style.
Aishwarya who was also in town to promote her new film offered her support for Gautam’s exhibition. Gautam and Aishwarya have worked together several times over the years, he shot her for various advertising campaigns during her modelling career and for a number of her films. His coffee table book called ‘Faces’ contains 45 film personalities beginning with Durga Khote, one of India's first ladies of cinema and ending with Aishwarya Rai.
Gautam Rajadhyaksha is considered India’s best-known celebrity photographer, having photographed almost all the icons of the Indian Film industry and holds the distinction of having the largest number of cover pictures in glossy magazines in India. He is the most sought after photographer in the nation for anyone who wants to get noticed.
Gautam’s photography career started over 20 years ago, when his friend, legendary actress Shabana Azmi asked him to shoot her for a film magazine, after which he gave up a career in advertising and came to be known as India’s best known star photographer. In December 2006, Shabana Azmi and her husband, leading lyricist and scriptwriter Javed Akhtar, formally opened Sitaaray and launched Sitaaray’s first cultural event ‘Kaifi Aur Main’ – a play based on the life of Kaifi Azmi.
Following the unveiling, Gautam provided an exceptional insight into his photography with ‘an hour with Gautam’ during which he took guests down memory lane with anecdotes and experiences of his career accompanied by an audio visual presentation of his portraits of the much loved icons of Indian cinema.
Sitaaray will be hosting the ‘Faces’ exhibition from 4th April to 21st April 2007. The exhibition will include the sale of Gautam Rajadhyaksha’s photographs and a limited edition poster commissioned by Sitaaray.
