Being born and brought up in the city of dreams, Bombay’s film industry becomes as much a part of you as your own home. My first memories of Bollywood are from the time when I was a photographer with Mid-Day Publications. It was through those assignments that I had the opportunity to have a closer look at this prolific industry.

The first thing that struck me, as an outsider, was the incredibly vast number of people involved in the making of a film. At least 60 people, if not more, at beck and call, each of them with their own area of specialization. The other thing that fascinated me were the huge sets—a palace one day to a village the next; constructed today and erased next week, replaced with something totally different.

The air of glitz is present even during the making of a film. Right from the director, who would go about shaping the scene with a passion to the cinematographer who cans the movie with precision to the light man who brings life to the sets, to the actors and their respective auras to the motley group of visitors coming from as far as Jalandhar in the north to Madurai in the south— just hanging about waiting to catch a glimpse of the famous stars. Every visit left me unfulfilled; I always wanted to go back. There was so much to do but I just had to leave it for another day.

I have worked on several subjects that were close to me. This time I have focused my lens on something which is so much a part of me and yet continues to elude me. Until now . .