Photographer at Sonam & Anand’s wedding: “There were no suggestion of poses”

The wedding ceremony between Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and Anand Ahuja was undoubtedly the wedding of the year so far, which garnered eyeballs and interest globally. One man, who captured every memorable moment at the ‘Big Fat Punjabi Wedding’ was multi-award winning photographer, Anand Rathi. BizAsiaLive.com caught up with Rathi about working behind the lens at the most talked about Bollywood wedding of 2018.

His team were the official photographers who captured all adorable, candid and absolutely splendid images which have turned into a social media rage in the recent days, following the biggest wedding of the year. Each picture everyone has been gushing over the newlyweds has been captured by Rathi and his skilled team.

Rathi, is a self-taught photographer, with a journey spanning across 16 countries and five continents (Italy, Japan, Bahrain, Mauritius, Thailand, Indonesia, UAE, USA, Sri Lanka to name a few), Rathi is a recipient of several global accolades, some of the highest honors in the wedding photography and videography profession, including Weddison Awards 2017, Tokyo International Foto Awards amongst others.

How did Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja approach you?
We were contacted by the family.

Did they come to you with a set mind frame on how their wedding album should look like?
No not at all. we were given complete creative freedom.

How different is a celebrity wedding photography from usual weddings?
Most of our clients are celebrities in their respective fields. Be it politicians or businessmen. In that respect, we are used to dealing with mega weddings. We respect our client’s privacy, ensure a thorough pre-production (recces, event show flow) and on the days of the events, we are coordinated over walkie talkie.

Anand was just as composed as Sonam. There were no suggestion of poses, they were enjoying the wedding and we were capturing them in their happy moments.

Could you please give us insights into the wedding – the moments that did not find their way to the Internet but became a part of a memorable moment from the wedding.
A lot of it is out on the Internet and it is evident that this was a very very happy wedding. There were smiles all around. The whole film industry partied together like one large family.

How has wedding photography evolved over the past few years in India?
We’ve evolved from merely documenting weddings to adding creativity and photo journalism during the documentation. As a company we’ve been fortunate to try new concepts like virutal reality wedding films, underwater shoots, chroma key stop motion etc. The clients are receptive to new ideas and the creative freedom has increased.

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja has faced the camera before but was Anand Ahuja as comfortable as her when it came to capturing some adorable moments? Did he suggest a few poses?
Anand was just as composed as Sonam. There were no suggestion of poses, they were enjoying the wedding and we were capturing them in their happy moments.

Apart from the couple, who were the other family members that you liked clicking?
Everyone. Anil Kapoor especially, he is such a rockstar.