Cover Shoots and Stories

Too Memorable to Forget

There have been so many fabulous shoots over the 25 glorious years of UpperCrust. Which is why selecting just 25 was no mean feat, but here goes, says the editor...

Farzana Contractor UpperCrust,Cover Shoots

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

Covers, ah! As much a joy, for any editor, as a nightmare too. First, to pick a subject, a meaningful one, then to see if he or she is game for it. If yes, to fix the appointment for the interview, the location for the photoshoot, the story angle, the time you get to meet, greet, shoot, talk… More a nightmare actually, than pure joy, except when being with those who are grounded, simple and easy. Basically, the true celebrity.

That is the category I have always gone for. People known for what they do. The talent they are famous for. The ones to whom publicity is not important, recognition of their craft is.

I have had a few rules where choosing the UpperCrust cover people have been concerned with, over these past 25 years. The first being, ideally, well-known people, who are low-key. Famous, not for being famous, but for their intrinsic worth. Secondly, they had to be associated with the world of food and wine; chefs, hoteliers, food writers, authors of cookbooks, cooks, top hostesses, vineyard owners, wine masters… Except of course, filmstars, who everybody likes to read about and truly, truly special people with large fan followings such as spiritual gurus, who have something to say about food and life, a phenomenal link. But the most important rule I had was, we will never chase anyone for a cover. They have to want to be on our cover.

So if I have to start my pick of 25 covers over 25 years, the first that comes to mind, is the very first one. Bilkees and Air Marshal Latif. I selected them for a few good reasons. Mrs Latif had a wonderful cookbook to her credit, she kept a great table and she lived in Hyderabad, the city with one of India’s best cuisines and the subject of her book. But when I called her to tell her we wished to have them on our inaugural cover, that Behram, I and the team would come there to do so, she was glad but also horrified, since we wanted her to invite some foodie friends to her home for lunch. “But what will our guests think?” she worried… She did agree, though (“because there is no way, we can ever refuse Behram, anything!”), and it was decided that I will shoot the food in the kitchen, take a few shots of the Latifs and guests at the table and scoot, once the lunch started. Behram of course was their honoured guest and enjoyed their company and ate a great meal while my team and I went out to town for some other shoot and to catch a bite! So, to this day I don’t know how exactly Mrs Latif’s dalcha tasted!

The Shah Rukh Khan covershoot I liked. It was at Mannat, his home, and Gauri requested we keep her and Aryan out of the shoot. Sure, we said. But when SRK, who I was shooting away, started to play with the four-year-old Aryan, who had wandered into the room, I couldn’t resist; “Can I shoot the two of you?” I enquired, like any good photographer who wouldn’t miss such an opportunity. SRK coolly shrugged a reply and I went trigger-happy. That’s when I got my cover shot. It went on to become Aryans first ‘media appearance’. As for his solo picture, it was a candid shot way after pack-up. I love it. SRK was there, by the window, talking, smoking. I went and moved the curtain a wee bit, got the light to fall on him and from afar, shot this picture. I do consider it one of his best, even if I sound immodest.

Just a year after we launched the magazine, Behram passed away. He saw five issues before that and was fairly proud of me. He is not one to shower you with unending praise, just a word here or a smile, and that was enough for me. His going away was beyond the huge emotional blow. My core shook. It was like a mighty oak falling. I was bewildered, overwhelmed by what steps I should take. The responsibility of running Afternoon, its editorial department fell squarely on my shoulders. Most people thought I would just allow it to fold away. Till today I have no idea how and where I got the strength and ability to run the show, but with the love and support of my team, our readers, God’s grace and Behram’s memory, we managed.

So when it was time for us to work on the next issue of UpperCrust, I just found myself saying, “I want to put a spiritual guru on the next cover.”

And I decided to go to his ashram just outside Bangalore to meet Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who was huge those days. He was very receptive to being photographed. In his words of wisdom, spoken in a baby sing-song voice, I did feel a sense of calm. After spending a couple of hours with him, just as we were getting into our car, word reached us that Sri Sri wanted us to join him again, that he was visiting the construction site of the new ashram coming up next door. My immediate response was, “No, we will leave, we have to get back, we have work in Bangalore.” Until I got a warning glare from my colleague who tried to say we can’t show such rebuke.

Well, we trudged back and joined Sri Sri’s troupe, I decided to shoot some more of him, as we walked alongside. That is when Sri Sri turned around and asked me, “But you have finished shooting, what do you want now?” And I retorted, “A really sexy picture!” I don’t believe I actually blurted that. But he sportingly laughed, shook off the white cotton shawl from shoulders, re-draped it and said, “Alright, go ahead, I will model for you!” And he started to twirl around and there I was, taken by surprise getting into quick action, bending down and taking frenzied shots from knee height! The sun was setting, the sky was a deep blue, there was construction material lying around, girders in view, a breeze blowing and Sri Sri twirling away, smiling, laughing away like a child. I got my cover shot! A picture that went around the world, forwarded by all his faithful followers, to be put as a display image on their mobile phones. It was April 2001. Behram had passed away on April 9.

It didn’t stop there though. There was a huge outcry that I should put Behram on the cover of UpperCrust and Sri Sri on the following one.

Everyone argued he was the great Busybee, India’s first food writer and what not. But I couldn’t get myself to do that. It would be going against everything Behram stood for, he would hate to be on the cover. Then, we found a solution. For the first and only time, we had two covers.

Strangely, soon after, the next cover kind of just happened. It really is incredible how the universe conspires. In town to do Feng Shui readings of the rich and the famous was the world-renowned Lillian Too from Malaysia. Bombay society was fussing and fawning over her, including shelling out a few lakhs of rupees to get her advice to set their apartments in order.

I was invited to meet her over lunch at Golden Dragon, along with the couple responsible for getting her to India, Diana and Nusli Davar. In the course of the lunch Lillian said she would like to come over to my home. I demurely said, she was out of my reach. She laughed and said she was curious about me. Well, straight after lunch, her husband and son joined us and we drove home. Malabar Hill is not far away.

She entered my apartment and right at the door, took a deep breath and smiled. Then she proceeded to the kitchen, walked around, checked for dusty shelves, went to the bedroom and finally to the study and made her first comment, “This is the room, this one is full of peaceful energy.” And then she went to the little balcony and with the help of a beautiful gold and red compass pointed to the spot where the needle was simply spinning. Will you believe it that was the exact spot where I would sit every evening and cry. It was baffling.

She found my entire apartment, simple and beautiful and in tune with the laws of Feng Shui. She did ask me to put a picture of two flutes under the column over my bed (I put two flutes, instead, since I had just started to learn to play that instrument-another uncanny development), and to shift the three tiny figurines in my kitchen of three Chinese Gods, Fuk, Luk and Sau, to a spot overlooking my dining table. Apart from that she sighed and said, “Why don’t more people in Bombay have homes like yours!”

I was flattered.

So talking about flutes and learning to play it… This was also something that happened organically. A few months after Behram passed, I suddenly had this strong desire to learn to play this instrument. I called up Hariprasad Chaurasia and asked him to please help me find a teacher. “I will come, myself!” he roared in his happy voice. I didn’t think he was serious, but then he was. He came home, along with his huge bansuri, as well as one for me and showed me the basic techniques. It has to be among my most cherished memories.

That’s when I learnt he was such a foodie. We decided to meet up at his home soon after. While there, I learnt he loved eating street food very much, so we spontaneously decided to hop over to Juhu beach which was near his apartment. He insisted on taking another kurta with him to continue with the photoshoot, which he promptly and most unconsciously changed into right as we stepped out of the car.

He proceeded to eat some pani puri and then we went towards the edge of the water. He was shooting the breeze, just as enjoyable as I was shooting him. This is when we heard some flute notes floating towards us. Ah, there he was, the bansuri man, selling flutes, blowing away into one…a popular Bollywood tune. Hariprasad walked to him, stood listening to him, quietly, with a certain reverence. And I slowly went click, click, click. It was a touching moment. There is more to the story but I can’t go on and on…

Rahul Akerkar and AD Singh, almost 40 years ago as young boys teamed up to start Just Desserts, at a corner space diagonally across from Bombay House at Homi Mody Street. It caught the imagination of Bombay denizens in a big way. Soon after they went their different ways but continued to take Bombay by storm. Indigo, Olive and what not. There was no stopping them. Most people conjectured they had become enemies, Huh, huh, that we don’t like to believe. One rainy day we got them together at Hanging Gardens at Malabar Hill and did a brilliant photoshoot, quite literally holding umbrellas over my camera and their heads! It was so much fun. I had taken two champagne glasses from my house and we used those as props, too. Celebration of a friendship. Later their two wives, Sabina and Malini came by, too, and we took a lovely photo, all five of us for the editorial page. You know, I feel blessed, nice things just happen to me, without any trying.

In my quest for unusual stories involving people, I got the idea of doing a covershoot with all those ruling the theatre scene at the time. I invited loads of them over to my place. These are all friends and it was easy to coordinate. So there they were all the theatre biggies at my home, having a blast. Music, food, drinks! Already familiar with my place they were all over, chilling out, as I went here and there and shot them individually. The group shot was the best. Used to being directed, they followed my dictat in good humour, even pulling my leg now and then for fancy-ing myself! The picture with me, they insisted, had to be shot in my den – the kitchen! This was 21 years ago. Homi is no more, Vijay Krshna is unwell, Dolly says, she is getting old… The young ‘un, Quasar is going great guns.

RK Laxman rarely gave interviews. At least not personal ones. But he and I always had a good equation, right since the early days of my marriage. It was said, there were two geniuses of India; RK Laxman on the front page of Times of India and Busybee on the last page of The Afternoon, humour and satire at its best.

Most people were rather intimidated by RK Laxman. He could be brusque and impatient. As he was with me, when he suddenly got up and said, “Why are we wasting time here (we were at his home at Breach Candy), let’s go to Worli Seaface, you will get better pictures there!” Of course! Why had I not thought of that! A 5 ft. brass figure of RK Laxman’s ‘common man’ had just been installed at Worli Seaface rampart and it would be ideal to get a picture of them two together! I think I shot a great picture, except I just could not get Laxman to smile for me. Something I like; smiling people make happy covers.

Milind Soman, the shoot and interview was done at 6 am on Marine Drive, since he is such a marathon man and the interview conducted soon after across the road in the lobby of Marine Plaza. This one is a cool customer. Perizaad! What can I say? She is easy, breezy and bubbly like good champagne. It’s one of my most-prized shots. Done in a jiffy, at Gondola in Bandra, a restaurant started by her father when she was born. The place was too small and too dark. So I opened the door, made her stand in the doorway leaning on the frame, even as I ran out to the middle of the road, where one of my team members stopped the traffic on one side and a Gondola waiter, the other side, while I yelled, “Just throw your head back and laugh!” She did and I shot the picture, quickly but unhurried. Just three frames. The horns were of course blaring. Everybody is always in a hurry in Bombay city!

Madhur Jaffrey, our cookery queen was quite a pleasant subject to shoot. I caught an early morning flight to Bangalore, met up with her at Taj MG Road where Madhur was staying. I had already asked my friend Radhika Ponnapa, who was going to interview her later, to bring along some wooden spoons and whisks from her kitchen that I may need. And rightly so. We popped these into Madhur’s hands, completed my shoot and left for the airport to return to Bombay! All in a day’s work.

The UpperCrust Show which happens every December could not have got a bigger chief guest for the inauguration than in the year 2007. A very defining year for me, since just three months before that, our partner in Afternoon tried a hostile takeover. But that’s history, half-forgotten and fully-forgiven, plus the great Amitabh Bachchan was here to lend support to the Show. The plan was to take him aside after he had done the round of the Expo Centre and shoot a cover picture of his for the forthcoming issue.

Pipe dream!!! The media jostling for space, following him closely, just would not allow it. There were over 60 photographers and journalists who came to see/meet/greet/shoot/get a sound byte from the great Bachchan. It was just impossible for us to isolate AB even for five minutes to enable me to shoot him. So we did the next best thing. We selected a picture shot by one of the dozens of photographers at the inauguration and used that instead. And that’s how I made it to the cover of UpperCrust. Next to AB releasing the new Busybee book.

Dev Anand was our darling man. His positive and clean spirit was so infectious. Therefore when we were planning a special issue on Body, Mind and Soul, we knew we just had to have him on our cover. I met and interviewed him at his home, with such pleasure. He was one of those who made you feel special. By the way, this was one issue which was spectacular, the contents so well- curated. Check it out in our digital archives.

I have got the tag of being the fastest photographer from many that I have shot. Perhaps it’s a compliment. But being given five minutes to shoot someone is a bit much. Rather too little, even for someone like me. But I managed to do that with the international superstar, Pierce Brosnan, the James Bond! We even carried a cigar with us in case we would need it. We did! He actually lit and posed with it. And I got my picture!

I always liked the chiselled looks of actor Chitrangada. I was happy to learn she loves to cook, eat out and travel. And so I went over to her house to shoot her. We were to discuss her culinary leanings, army background, etc. But when I was requested to keep the house out of the pictures, I was flummoxed, how does one do that? Quite exasperating, it did spoil my shooting mood, a first for me, but I managed. The results were quite stunning even if this was a challenging shoot.

Shooting, talking to Shobhaa De is seriously wonderful. She is game to do what you want and the camera caresses every angle of her. I love her facial bone structure. She speaks with ease, gives you anecdotes, connects her heart and mind, is fearless and straight-forward. Like vintage wine she gets better with time. Only she can come up with a title, 70 and to hell with it! That’s when I said to her, “I am coming over on an Enfield, will you ride it?” “Oh yes, ‘royally!’” she laughed. It’s Shobhaa’s wit and intelligence that I find most appealing along with her innate honesty.

We didn’t go far, shot the images with her on the bike right under her building at Cuffe Parade. A few on the rocks, by the sea. It was bright sunshine and she hardly had any makeup on and neither were the photographs touched up (I never allow the graphic guys to do that). Pictures done, we went upstairs and over pots of tea had an endless conversation seated at her famous round dining table, covering subjects far removed from the cover story. With Shobhaa, time flies.

Neelu and Sunil, ‘Joy’ to the world, are my favourite people. This man is so big in the world of food, with hundreds of restaurants under his belt, yet he remains so down-to- earth. A people person, he is universally loved and truly a joy to have as a friend. I have seen him grow from his young days when he would come to meet Behram, four decades ago, and take his advice on menus and designs. Hard work pays. But it’s the woman behind, Neelu, who he has to sincerely thank for his success and for raising two boys who are now wearing Joy’s mantle.

Farah Khan is Farah Khan, in front of the camera and behind. There are no pretences. She lives life Queen Size. Told to cut the chicken she has cooked for us, even as I am poised to shoot her, she asks if she can stab it! Of course, go ahead, your chicken, your house, just don’t let it fly! This girl is fun. Half of Bollywood swears by her cooking, especially her biryani.

Dada Vaswani is the gentlest soul I have met. I was invited to go over to where he was staying at NCPA Apartments to have a little chat with him on spirituality. I ended up spending an hour, mesmerised by all he had to say, converting a one-page article for our health section onto a full-blown cover interview and shoot. That’s what I enjoy being editor, photographer and publisher of UpperCrust. The freedom to think on my feet. The power to change course.

UpperCrust Destinations have always been a very popular part of our magazine. We have covered the regional food of many states of India, in depth and painstakingly. When we planned to do Lucknow, Muzaffar Ali was a natural choice for our cover. Creative to the core, this Rumi-espousing man cooked a delectable Lucknowi pulao for us. The whole issue was so well put-together, it broke all sales records, selling like hotcakes from Lucknow’s most famous bookstore, Mr Advani’s in Hazratganj.

Praful Patel, when he was the aviation minister, was unstoppable. I shot him in two phases. At the Taj Mahal hotel, with its grand interior as background and then on the tarmac at Bombay airport with a plane placed at a certain angle. Thrilling to say the least.

What can I say about MF Husain, Baba, I called him, since that’s how Raisa, his daughter, and my good friend, addressed him. What a man! There won’t be another like him. And I don’t even say that in context of him as a painter. That’s a given. His zest for life, joie de vivre, his excitement, the wonder he saw in everything…And that he even cooked! Like many other covers that just fell into my lap, so did this one. He surprised me by coming over with a thela of ingredients wanting to cook his famous lasan that he had told me he would cook for me, way before even UpperCrust was born! He not only cooked, he kept calling and asking his sons and daughters to send over the grandchildren and he ended up staying at my place the whole day, having yet another cup of tea, declaring I gave him such a boring white apron, asking for felt pens and going on to draw a colourful cockerel on the white apron before he raised his hand, biding adieu and leaving as swiftly as he had arrived.

Sivanandan was always hailed as a good cop. He proved it even in retirement. By starting Roti Bank, an NGO that would feed thousands of hungry people living on the streets. I was totally blown with not just the concept he put in place but also in its execution. I went to shoot this cover story on the pavement outside Tata Hospital where on a daily basis hundreds of hungry beings are fed. I asked him to invite a few of his favourite children. He did. And look how happy the children look all because they were being shot!

Shashi Tharoor. Poor guy couldn’t keep his eyes open, without his shades on in the hot Maldivian sun as I shot him standing barefoot on the sands with the azure blue seas behind him. But we worked out a plan. Everytime I would say, “now” he would take his shades off and peer into the lenses, trying to keep his eyes open! And smile. He was most cooperative. “Please send me some of these pictures,” he said, “my mother would love to see them. I hardly have any pictures like these taken.”

Can’t begin to tell you how much I laughed on the day I was shooting toute la famille, of Amjad Ali Khan. The two boys, Ayaan and Armaan love each other but will not spare each other. Argue, disagree, insist… with the father joining in the fray and the mother trying to keep the balance. I mean this is such an interactive and ‘joshful’ family. Over starters and lunch, raags being sung, amidst zestful conversations where everyone seemed to be speaking at the same time, sometimes, I managed to get all views and opinions down in my journal (I still take notes). Never before have I done a group interview of this nature, it was so enjoyable.