 Around the world in 85 plates |
| Gautam Rajadhyaksha’s profile |
| Gautam Rajadhyaksha was born in Mumbai and educated at the St. Xavier’s High School and then at the St. Xavier’s College, from where he secured a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry. He taught chemistry at St. Xavier’s college for two years while preparing for a Diploma in Advertising and Public Relations. |
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| Lintas invited Gautam to join them as a Management Trainee, and, on finishing his apprenticeship, was appointed Head of the Photo Services Department. He helped create some of the landmark campaigns like, ‘Liril’, ‘Fair ‘n Lovely’, ‘Rin’, ‘Cherry Blossom’ a large range of products from Britannia Biscuits and Pond’s. The Surf ‘Lalitaji’ campaign was also created during his tenure. |
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| In those 14 years, Gautam was instrumental in discovering and promoting several models such as Karen Lunel (Liril), Anna, Indira and Ulrike Bredemeyer, Tina Munim, Suresh Oberoi, Juhi Chawla and Salmaan Khan. He also got the unique opportunity of working with the biggest names in photography like Wilas Bhende, Mitter Bedi, Jehangir Gazdar and Adrian Steven. Photography as a hobby, was pursued by many in his family and with the experience of working with the country’s leading photographers and models, Gautam became an ardent weekend photographer around 1977. He did several assignments in photo journalism both, writing and photographing subjects for a variety of magazines – such as ‘Stardust’, ‘Society’, ‘Filmfare’, ‘Celebrity’ and the ‘Illustrated Weekly of India. |
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| In 1985, as editor of a Marathi fortnightly Entertainment magazine called ‘Chanderi’, he received immense appreciation, as the paper soon became the largest read publication of the time. His weekends had begun taking-over his weekdays and in 1987, Gautam stepped out of Lintas as a Creative Director and began a new career as a commercial photographer, magazine writer, continuing his successful stint as an Editor of ‘Chanderi’. |
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| ‘Lux’, ‘Sunsilk’, ‘Organics’, ‘Lakme’, ‘Surf’, ‘Tips and Toes’ were some of his highly regarded and awarded campaigns. Several young stars that blazed on the silver screen began their careers with Gautam’s portfolio and guidance. Shilpa and Namrata Shirodkar, Madhu Sapre, Sheetal Malhar, Jugal Hansraj, Pooja Bhatt, Raveena Tandon, Sonali Bendre and Kajol are some of his ‘discoveries’ in the field of modeling and films. |
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| In 1992 he co-scripted a film called ‘Bekhudi’ which launched Kajol’s spectacular career, followed by ‘Anjaam’ a film that show-cased the talents of Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan for the first time on screen. Rahul Rawail directed both the films. |
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| Gautam pioneered the new wave of film publicity with photo sessions specially arranged to focus on the theme of the film and the aesthetic presentation of the same. Many of the last decade’s outstanding hits have benefited from Gautam’s involvement and photographing the publicity material. They are – ‘Maine Pyaar Kiya’, ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’, ‘Rangeela’, ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’, ‘Dil to Pagal Hain’, ‘Dil Se’, ‘Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham’, ‘Mohabhatein’, ‘Fiza’ and ‘Baaghbaan’ amongst others. |
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| In 1997 he released ‘Faces’ – India’s first Coffee Table book of Indian Stars that straddled seven decades and three generations from Durga Khote, Naseem through the eras of Nutan, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, to today’s luminaries like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai. Rave reviews and a sell out prompted Gautam to organize an exhibition called ‘Chehre’ with 650 portraits of personalities from different spheres apart from films. Artists like M.F.Hussain mingled with industrialists like J.R.D.Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, sportstars like Sunil Gavaskar & Sachin Tendulkar and musicians like Ravi Shankar, Allah Rakha, Zakir Hussein and the immortal Mangeshkars. |
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| The premiere of this show was held in Pune and was attended by Asha Bhosle, Madhuri Dixit, Kamal Hassan, Tanuja, Kajol and Shobha De. It has had a successful tour of 4 cities. |
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| Presently Gautam is in the process of bringing out a Marathi book called ‘Chehere’ which delves into the lives of the many celebrities that he has known and photographed. He is also commissioned to write for films and already has 3 projects ready to go on the floors. |
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| Gautam Rajadhyaksha has received the Life Time Achievement Award from the Advertising Club for distinctive contribution to the advertising industry, the Dr. Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Fashion Award in the same category and the prestigious Kusumagraj Prathistan Award for contribution in the field of photography. |
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| Aishwarya Rai at Sitaaray Restaurant | Aishwarya Rai' s profile |
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