Bollywood’s documentation of style is giving the hardworking crew its due

“When you are flying in a gown from halfway around the world and the lighting on the red carpet isn’t proper, it can be a real downer,” says celebrity stylist, Ami Patel, succinctly summing up the trend that has been sweeping through celebrity Instagram feeds across the country. There was a time when you’d have to wait for the paparazzi to capture your favourite celebrity as they stepped out. But the status quo has changed, and the best dressed names of the industry have now turned the 1080×1080 pixels of their Instagram feed into a runway of sorts, inviting their millions-strong fanbase to have a front row seat to the show.

Why wait for an editorial shoot to showcase your style when you can do it every day? If you’ve been trying to put your finger on when conceptualised OOTD photoshoots became the norm, all roads will lead to Sonam Kapoor Ahuja and her multi-hyphenate sister, Rhea Kapoor. In an Instagram post, she said the rise of the trend was a vehicle for new names to gain recognition. The caption read, “I am so glad that so many actors are doing beautiful images of their outfits now. It’s a great way to promote new designers and talent and get beautiful pictures. Rhea Kapoor and The House of Pixels, we started this movement of style and art together.”

The latter refers to photographer duo Apeksha Maker and Vaishnav Praveen, who had little idea that a chance meeting with the Kapoor sisters would kickstart a new trend on Instagram. “We started The House of Pixels towards the end of 2015, working on an assortment of photoshoots for designers and lookbooks. It was during a brand collaboration that Rhea Kapoor came across our work and emailed us to come in for a meeting. They were in the process of releasing Sonam’s app back then, and were reaching out to content creators to generate exclusive visual content. During our meeting, we decided to spontaneously shoot some photos of the Delpozo gown that Sonam was wearing for an award show, and the rest is history,” says Praveen.

As the dream team started working together more regularly, from everyday outfit changes to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, they transformed Kapoor Ahuja’s Instagram feed into a roster of editorial photos usually found in a glossy magazine’s pages. “Since she is always sporting haute couture, our in-house photoshoots simply helped the outfit be presented in a better way. Things progressed organically, and we started getting backdrops in to liven up the corner of her house that we used to shoot in. To put it simply, Sonam likes to get ready and we like to shoot pictures,” he says.

Praveen believes that the photography industry has witnessed a seismic shift in the three years since. “Earlier, you’d have to work for at least eight to 10 years to reach the level where you could work with a celebrity. However, there has been a boom in creative photoshoots for Instagram, and as the trend caught on with the rest of the industry over these past few months, actors have been exploring newer talent. It is also heartening to see photographers being credited in the caption and receiving their due recognition. The exposure helps other clients to connect with them on Instagram, and it works well for everyone,” the Mumbai-based photographer explains.

Ami Patel echoes the sentiment. “It is nice of celebrities to do it; they don’t necessarily have to credit the entire technical team behind the look, but they voluntarily choose to tag everyone, including the hair and makeup artists as well as the assistants. It also serves as a nice gesture for acknowledging the designers who often work hard on creating custom couture ensembles for specific events,” she says.

Since celebrities are always strapped for time when getting ready for events, the whole process has been streamlined to fit into a narrow window of five to 10 minutes. “There is a lot of pre-planning that goes into these photoshoots. We connect with the stylists beforehand to discuss the specificities of the outfit, hair and makeup look, and so on. Accordingly, we prepare the background and lighting, so that we are ready to roll the minute the celebrity is ready. Likewise, the turnaround time is quick and the photos are usually ready to be posted on Instagram before they reach the event. The key element is nailing the right lighting—if you know the angles you want to shoot, there isn’t much editing involved in post-production,” Maker explains. Patel further adds, “The entire process is fuss-free and without making a major production of it, we hustle the celebrity to the set-up as soon as they are ready, and we usually get our winning shot in a matter of five minutes. In terms of backdrops, I find that classic colours, like grey or beige, complement a wide variety of couture looks.”

As the entire industry embraces the trend, the photographer duo believes that constant experimentation is the key to standing out in the cluttered social media landscape. “For Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga promotions, we decided to lean into the nostalgia induced by the title of the movie. Accordingly, we brought in vintage backdrops in neutral colours and muted tones, without any pop hues, to give the entire promotions run of the movie a uniform look on Instagram,” he says.

Patel, who styled Alia Bhatt for promotions, hit refresh on the new trend by exploring newer locations. “Working with Alia is extremely stress-free, and each time we stepped out of the hotel at Berlin, it was like stepping right into a movie set. We had a particularly good time with the Moschino pantsuit; it was a beautiful outfit from their new collection and it felt great to be able to take some amazing photos of the look to thank the Italian fashion house for sharing it with us,” she says.

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