World Photography Day: Paparazzi Varinder called Shahrukh and Ranveer photo friendly, Dabboo Ratnani said- Amitabh gives creative ideas during the shoot

Be it the photos of celebrities printed in magazines or the videos that go viral on social media. Whatever the era, the contribution of the camera in cinema has always been the biggest.

Today, on the special occasion of World Photography Day, Bhaskar spoke to famous Bollywood photographer Varinder Chawla and learned when and how the paparazzi culture started in the industry…

Varinder's father RT Chawla was also a famous photographer.

He used to invite us with respect on the Muhurat
'My father started his career as a freelance photographer. At that time there was no paparazzi culture, so my father and I used to go to many parties and muhurats. We were invited there with great respect.

Then gradually we started working for magazines and newspapers and then websites and now the era of social media has arrived. People started getting interested in the personal lives of celebs so we also started covering personal parties.

We started covering Amitabh Bachchan's Diwali party and Shah Rukh Khan's Eid party and thus the paparazzi culture kept growing.

Difficult to maintain quality with spotting videos and photos
In Papa's time, we had to work very hard because there was no digital then. So much has changed in today's time that everything has become manageable but now we have to keep ourselves active 24×7. The second thing is that in Papa's time, a lot of attention was paid to quality but since the paparazzi culture started, there was a compromise with quality content.

It is difficult to maintain quality with spotting videos because here we often capture celebs in motion. The client also does not give time. He wants everything quickly.

Shahrukh has always been the friendliest actor
Shahrukh Khan has always been a photographer friendly actor in Bollywood. I have the most number of photos of Shahrukh in my archive. In those days, celebs used to welcome photographers on the sets. They always had fun. Many times, they would even give photos in their movie looks. There used to be no crowd on the sets then, so even the celebs used to be familiar. In today's times, no one allows photographers to come on the sets. They are afraid of their looks getting leaked.

Varinder's father RT Chawla with Shahrukh Khan.

However, today there are actors like Ranveer Singh, Kartik Aaryan, Ranbir Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan who support us a lot. They always have fun with the photographers. The new generation of stars is close to the paparazzi because we have a personal bond. They understand that this is our job and we also respect their privacy at some places.

Varinder Chawla with Ranveer Singh.

I have the best bonding with Ranveer, he helped me a lot
I have never asked for anything from anyone in my entire life, but there came a time when I was stuck in a place from where I was unable to get out. With great courage I shared my problem with Ranveer Singh. Within 5 seconds Ranveer replied that I am on the shoot. You send a voice note… whatever your issue is… you are like a brother to me… I will help in every possible way.

Later he gave me a number and said that he will help me. The next day Ranveer got free from shooting at 2:30 in the night and called me again to know whether my work was done or not.

Shahrukh-Amitabh themselves give us new ideas: Dabboo Ratnani
On this occasion, Bhaskar also spoke to famous celebrity photographer Dabboo Ratnani. Dabboo said, 'I have been in this industry for the last 25 years. The biggest challenge for me is always what new thing to do now. However, in today's era, many actors themselves have become so experienced that they also give us new ideas.

Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor are some of the actors who first shoot according to our concept and then add their own concept. They are always ready to try something new.

Many ideas come from daily life
Many times I get ideas for photography concepts from daily life as well. For example, sometimes when I am travelling, I get an idea and note it down or if I like a location, I take a photo of it.

Once I was getting a puncture in my car repaired and there was a truck full of old tyres parked there. A few days later when I did a calendar shoot with Shahrukh, I ordered 100-150 tyres… made a similar setup and made Shahrukh sit in between those tyres.

There should be a limit on the paparazzi
Paparazzi culture is very interesting. People enjoy knowing what each celebrity is doing. I also follow paparazzi pages. But there should be a limit to it. It is good as long as you do not invade someone's personal space. If I get a chance to become a paparazzi for a day, I would like to capture Ranveer Singh. He keeps doing some fun all the time.