Owner’s pride / J H Thakker

A blanch background; a curio of a camera! Yet what one gets each time is a for-keeps black-and-white frame. Jhamamal H Thakker’s lens is wholly in league with its subject — be it Nargis, Nalini Jaywant or Meena Kumari. Or, for that matter, Jairaj, on whom the photographer’s lens shuttered down first.

With Thakker, his 51-year-old India Photo Studio in Dadar has also had similar exposure. "Almost every on-screen face visited the place and got etched in my memory and collection," he says, remembering Madhubala to be the most beautiful person he ever came across. "Just a couple of photographs. Never again I got an opportunity to click her," says Thakker of the two priceless frames, also displayed at NGMA. "Nalini Jaywant and Meena Kumari were two actresses whom I photographed the most. Probably because they were the most amiable, without any airs. Among actors, Balraj Sahni was a gentleman one can never forget. In fact, it was Pukar in 1948, starring Nalini, for which I did my first movie stills. Andthen she put me on to others. As they say, the rest is history."

A history which was not allowed to gather dust and Thakker had his first show at Piramal Gallery in 1993. It had the same faces — Kishore Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Naushad, Madan Mohan, Balraj Sahni, Dilip Kumar — but in contrasting moods. "A burst of flood lamps, a dinky spotlight and a field camera are enough to create the magic," says the man behind it. Though the changing scenario in photographic trade and Bollywood made Thakker quit in the late ’60s, stars still invite him for a shoot. "Our pre-occupation with our image sees no confines. Hence portraits remain important." Even Kodak wants to make the concept popular again by opening portrait studios across the country. Thakker’s India Photo Studio will be the first.

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But portraits are not what Thakker limited himself to. His forthcoming exhibition will have photographs taken on location. Same place, same time.

`Chitranjali‘ at NGMA, Kala Ghoda. Till Feb 29. Time: 11.00 am to 7.00pm.