Golden girls of silver screen
Prem Sagar retraces his journey in the world of cinema through his beautiful portraits of the leading ladies of Bollywood.
Sometimes, something as tenuous and fickle as chance can change the course of one’s life. And give one’s future a whole new script. And title. As a young boy he loved painting but never planned to take it up professionally. While he was studying to become an engineer, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) approached his father (Ramanand Sagar) asking him if any of his sons were interested in joining the institute. “My father was a visionary, what else explains why one fine day he turned towards me and encouraged me to join FTII and study photography instead of Engineering,” recalls Prem Sagar.
Photography came naturally to him, though there were some initial glitches. He says, “Once, my professors told me I was likely to fail. That’s when I asked one of my elder brothers for help while he was shooting for a film. During our preparatory holiday, I took training under him for ten days and appeared for my exam. Everyone was amazed when I came second in my class and the pictures clicked during the film shoot were praised by the faculty.” An appreciation he holds very close to his heart is from filmmaker Satyajit Ray.
“In FTII I made a student film called Rose Bud. Satyajit Sir had come to the institute as a guest lecturer. I was excited, like the other students, to hear him. But what surprised me was when he said, ‘Before we start the session, tell me who is the cinematographer of the film Rose Bud.’ I was stunned. Satyajit Ray asking about my work! It motivated me immensely,” shares Prem. The camera became his first love, and it accompanied him everywhere.
The director, who gave us the hit television show Vikram Aur Betaal, continues, “I would carry my camera on my sets, too, and capture images that were later used for posters and film publicity.” This industry thespian, who made posed candid shots look natural, shares, “Remember the iconic picture of Ram and Sita dressed in royal regalia from the popular television series Ramayan directed by my father Ramanand Sagar. It was a posed candid shot. Nowhere do you see Ram dressed as a king alongside his wife. The picture generally associated with Ram is of him dressed as a hermit with Sita and Lakshman by his side. But I ensured that I clicked that particular shot and it became one of the iconic shots of its time. We used that picture for the publicity of the serial too.”
Directing Vikram Aur Betaal on a tight budget was a challenge. “Imagine, only about a lakh was spent on every episode. Due to the low budget, we had to shoot in our bungalow, Sagar Villa. There were no computer effects to create visuals, so we did everything manually. We would shoot 18 scenes in one day,” says Prem. Inspired by legendary photographer David Douglas Duncan, Prem created a lens for the pyramid composition to capture the beauty of his favourite actress — Hema Malini.
“Hiding behind the curtains, I used that lens to capture her Bharatanatyam performance in Chennai in 1976. It’s one of my favourite pictures. I recently gifted it to her on her birthday and she was spellbound.” He believes there are two important requisites for a photographer — creativity and technicality. “Neither can be taught. To become a good photographer you need to have eyes that capture every story in each frame without having a camera in hand,” he signs off.