The Ultimate Hustle

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“If you want something from an audience, you give blood to their fantasies.
It’s the ultimate hustle.”
(Marlon Brando – American actor, 1924-2004)

This is a portrait of Bollywood actor, anchor and dancer, Hussain Kuwajerwala shot in his green room after a performance on stage.

Hussain is a popular TV star who is acting the leading role of the first-ever Bollywood musical, “Zangoora, The Gypsy Prince” at Kingdom of Dreams since 2010.

Recently we have been working together and it was amazing to see how much Hussain is giving to the audience.
His performance requires an incredible physical effort and concentration which he carries with a high professionalism.
In many ways his work reminds of Marlon Brando’s early movies.

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How Far

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“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
(T.S. Eliot – American born English Editor, Playwright, Poet and Critic, 1888-1965)

Anand is wearing a kantha silk scarf made with a hand embroidery.
This artcraft is done by ladies involved in several workshops that we have settled with GURIA, a Human Rights organisation fighting against the sexual exploitation of women and children, particularly those forced into prostitution and trafficking.
Each scarf is unique and made in sarees provided by women in Benaras who take this opportunity to get rid of pieces that they brought in order to celebrate happy moments, festivals or parties.
Those accessories carry traces of happiness in their yarns…
Our model shows his body for the purpose of this brotherhood and happiness chain as this is a way to catch the attention on this fight for Human Rights and human dignity.
(Scarf style “Kingdom” – 100% silk – Collection RED HALO)

RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people who were living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the RED HALO page on Facebook and join this amazing human adventure in Varanasi,www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

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Manish’s Birthday Cake

 

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“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”
(George Harrison – English musician, singer, songwriter and lead guitarist of the Beatles, 1943–2001)

This is one more portrait of Manish, my brother, in order to celebrate his birthday.
It was shot along the Ganges in Varanasi (Benaras).

(This year will be smooth and happy like a birthday cake…जन्मदिन मुबारक हो…Janmadina mubarak ho..!!!)

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Ticket To Success

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“Success is like reaching an important birthday and finding you’re exactly the same.”
(Audrey Hepburn – British actress and humanitarian, 1929–1993)

This is a recent portrait of my childhood friend and “soul sister” Valerie in order to celebrate her
birthday.
It is funny that she is sharing this day with my brother Manish, maybe those things don’t come by chance…
During all our lives we kept on supporting each other with pride and no judgment like brother and sister do.
Time goes by and nothing changes between us.
Valérie is an author, director and filmaker based in Hollywood.

(This year is YOUR year where you’ll be enjoying a well-deserved success…Joyeux Anniversaire…Love you…!!!)

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The Road Toward Freedom

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“I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos-especially activity that seems to have no meaning.
It seems to me to be the road toward freedom…
Rather than starting inside, I start outside and reach the mental through the physical.”
(Jim Morrison – American singer & poet, 1943-1971)

This man was bathing before sunset in the holy waters of the Ganges at Shivala ghat in Varanasi (Benaras).
He smiled and laughed at my joke regarding his untied langot…

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The Colour of Soul

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“Light is meaningful only in relation to darkness, and truth presupposes error.
It is these mingled opposites which people our life, which make it pungent, intoxicating.
We only exist in terms of this conflict, in the zone where black and white clash.”
(Louis Aragon – French poet and novelist, 1897-1982)

This is funny that this was my first real black and white picture to be uploaded in my photostream as it is an image about colour.
Maybe unconsciously the fact that there is no colour here allows to feel its presence in a better way…

This image was shot in In the workshop where we give our color range for the yarn dyeing process.
It is always an happy moment as it is the beginning of the collection and we all feel hungry…of colors and new shades, as colors start our work.

Those young men are working manually, like their father and grandfathers did, and it might have been like this since the beginning of times.
They carry on this long tradition, they belong to the same family and their workshop is in a muslim area of Varanasi (Benaras) where anyone’s soul would travel through ages and places…

There is some “jaaduu” (which means “magic” in Hindi) in this place, we are mixing so many influences, Indian tradition with European taste, all together we try to figure out what will be the perfect shade, we speak Hindi, Urdu, English and French in order to define a colour, to find the right word which would mean something to all of us.

In this little workshop stands a real Indo-western fusion while we are trying to find the colour of Soul.

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At the Door to Paradise

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“Did you imagine that there could be emotions in heaven?
Emotions are closely tied to ego games.
Check your emotions at the door to paradise.”

(“The Politics of Ecstasy” by Timothy Leary – American writer and psychologist, 1920-1996)

(Cushions style “Manali” in Cotton & Silk – 30×45 / 45×45 / 60×60 – col. Black / col. White – Collection RED HALO)

As usual Anand shows his body in order to catch the attention on the fight for Human Rights and human dignity in which we are involved.
RED HALO is a collection of household linen based in Benaras (Varanasi – India) providing work to people who were living with difficulties and education to children.
“Like” the RED HALO page on Facebook and join this human adventure in Varanasi, www.facebook.com/redhalo.in

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The Silence in my Brother

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“In a portrait, I’m looking for the silence in somebody.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographe, 1908–2004)

Few people know this rare expression on my brother’s face which somehow belongs to his deepest nature…
Let’s pretend that this is an unofficial portrait of Manish where I might have captured the silence in him just for the sake of being able to use Cartier-Bresson’s words…
This was shot during summer while trying sherwanis made in some of our new fabrics at our tailor in Varanasi (Benaras).

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Between the Skin and the Shirt

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“The most difficult thing for me is a portrait.
You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.”
(Henri Cartier-Bresson – French photographer, 1908–2004)

Sadanand Patil is a well-known Indian theatre actor who was trained at the National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi, one of the foremost theatre institutions in the world.
This was shot in the gardens this during a break between two scenes of a movie in which we were both working together.
This brilliant actor is also one of the kindest and humblest person I met.

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More Than a Woman

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“An actor is something less than a man, while an actress is something more than a woman.”
(Richard Burton – Welsh Actor, 1925-1984)

This is a portrait of Bollywood actress Gauhar Khan.

Gauhar is known for her prominent role in “Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year” (2009) and for the item song “Parda Parda” in “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” (2010).
In 2009 she participated in a popular celebrity dance show, ” Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa” where she ended up as the runner up.
Since 2010, she joined the cast of the Bollywood musical, “Zangoora, The Gypsy Prince” at Kingdom of Dreams.
She is also featuring with her sister Nigaar in the popular TV show “The Khan Sisters” which started in 2011.

This picture was shot at her place in Delhi, early in the morning while she was having breakfast, it was during the break between two sequences of the movie in which we were both working together.

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Gauhar in the movie “Ishaqzaade” (2012)