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29 March 2024

Gautam Rajadhyaksha passes away

Gautam Rajadhyaksha shot to fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s with his stunning imagery of Bollywood A-Listers such as Rekha, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. (IMAGE COURTESY GAUTAM RAJADHYAKSHA'S FACEBOOK ACCOUNT)

Published
By Bindu Suresh Rai

Bollywood’s ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha passed away earlier today, with early media reports stating he died of a massive heart attack on September 13, at 4am. He was 61.
 
The photographer, who shot to fame in the late ’80s and early ’90s with his stunning imagery of Bollywood A-Listers such as Rekha, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is also credited for being the man who discovered the likes of Tina Munim, Salman Khan and Indian supermodel Sheetal Mallar.
 
The former classmate of actor Shabhana Azmi, Rajadhyaksha’s entry into the glamour world came courtesy his cousin, journalist, columnist and novelist, Shobhaa De.
 
Mere hours after news of his demise broke, tributes to the ‘gentle soul’ as he was known in the celeb circles, started to pour out over Twitter.
 
One of the first was De herself, who tweeted: “My darling Gautam Rajadhyaksha no more. Saddened beyond belief. Farewell confidante-cousin. Thank you for your generous love and soft focus memories [sic].”
 
Actor Abhishek Bachchan recalled his early memories with Rajadhyaksha, tweeting: “Rest in Peace, Gautam Rajadhyaksha. You will be dearly missed… The first time I ever did a professional photoshoot was in front of the lens of the great Gautam Rajadhyaksha. He was a pioneer in glamour.
 
“Photography and possibly one of the sweetest and most gentle people you would ever meet. Rest in peace Gautam.”
 
Not one to be left behind, producer-director Karan Johar lent his own two-bit saying: “Gautam Rajadhyaksha was one my most favourite people in the fraternity... funny, sensitive and always positive. I love you Gautam and I miss you [sic].”
 
He added: “When I was hugely overweight, Gautam told me: “Darling, not that it makes a difference but try to give me your left profile. It may help!”
 
Close friend Azmi only heard the news over Twitter, when she posed the question to Johar of why he was referring to Rajadhyaksha in the past tense.
 
Over the last decade or so, Rajadhyaksha also dabbled in screenwriting, with 1992, seeing him pen his first screenplay, for Kajol’s debut film, “Bekhudi”, followed by the Shah Rukh Khan and Dixit starrer, “Anjaam”.
 
However, photography has always remained his first love and in 1997, he produced his famous coffee table book, “Faces”, which featured a poignant, black and white image Dixit on the cover. The book itself contained stunning images of 45 film personalities, beginning with Durga Khote, one of India’s first ladies of the Indian screen and ending with Rai Bachchan.
 
After popular demand, Rajadhyaksha finally held his first ever photo-exhibition in Pune in 2000, which showcased 20 years of his photography work. The exhibition travelled across India, finally making way to San Francisco, London, Birmingham and Dubai.