He was once an actor, and when Mark Bennington — among the world’s most famous portrait photographers now — decided to document his photos in a book, he chose Bollywood. The 46-year-old from LA first came to India when he hit 40 and has made Mumbai his second home. His book Living The Dream captures 112 tinsel town faces. t2 chatted with Mark — who’s even acted in a Bolly film! — about his dream book.
What made you come up with the idea of Living The Dream?
The idea came before my first trip to India. It came from a National Geographic photographer friend who said that I should do a documentary book on actors since I have been an actor myself. The idea initially was to do a book on the lives of actors in Los Angeles. But before I even had a chance to start work on it, I found myself travelling to India. I had just turned 40 and I wanted to see another part of the world.
So in 2010, I landed up in India and while I was preparing to travel up north, I decided to stop over in Bombay and try and meet some actors. It started out in a very innocent way and then I happened to meet someone who introduced me to someone who introduced me to someone else. I finally met Guneet Monga (the producer of films like The Lunchbox and Haraamkhor) who later introduced me to Shanoo Sharma (the casting head of Yash Raj Films) and that’s how it went… one door opening after another. I had never been fascinated by Bollywood, by the way.
You weren’t fascinated by Bollywood, but what did you know about it?
I knew nothing! I had never even seen a Bollywood film before. That was a huge help and a huge hindrance at the same time. It helped in the sense that I came into the project without any preconceived notions about who the people I was photographing really were. The flipside, of course, was that I had to do massive research about the industry and the fraternity. I also watched quite a few Bollywood films. So the first six months were a crash course in Bollywood history.
What made you choose the stars you picked?
Well, I wanted to represent various clusters. I wanted someone to represent the yesteryear stars, another to represent the mega stars, someone to represent TV stars and someone to stand for the theatre people. I contacted a number of people… some said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’, while there were others who saw great value in the project and wanted to do it. So those were the people I went with.
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Your pictures humanise these larger-than-life stars. Was that the intention when you clicked them?
One hundred per cent. I wanted to humanise these stars… I wanted to make them accessible in a way that people had never seen before. So it was not about deglamourising them… but more about humanising them.
Did you discover anything about these stars while you shot them?
I think because I didn’t have the history of knowing them as big movie stars, it was a very normal equation. Like Salman (Khan) totally reminded me of this buddy of mine from high school who suddenly got popular playing football… I never saw him as the superstar he is. My interactions with all of them were very personal. And I think that comes across in the photographs as well… you see something that is human and personal. And yes, I discovered that despite being who they are and what they mean to so many people, they are actually very grounded people.
Your book is an interesting juxtaposition of stars and strugglers. Did those stories of newcomers struggling day in and day out tell you more than shooting with the stars?
Honestly, I found great value in everyone’s stories. There is no way you can compare someone who has just started out to Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah who have done hundreds and hundreds of films. I feel respect for everyone’s stories, wherever they happen to be in their careers.
MARK’S 3 FAVES
Which was the most creatively satisfying shoot?
Just from the point of view of aesthetics, I would have to choose Kareena’s (Kapoor Khan) shot on the beach under the hot sun as an umbrella is held over her head. That shoot of (TV actress) Pooja Varma in the dressing room is very captivating. I also loved that picture of Ashwin Mushran upside down with the mirror on the table. Personally, I respond to spontaneous laughter shots… like Shilpa Shetty… it’s probably something she hasn’t been seen doing before… it’s one hundred per cent genuine laughter. It’s the same with Saurabh Shukla.
Any pictures you had to reshoot?
Not many. I think there were only one or two people I had to reshoot. Of which one I wanted to reshoot… the second one the person wanted me to do it again. No, I am not giving you names! (Laughs) But it was just one person out of a 112 people. See, most of them had seen my work and they knew I wasn’t going to take a bad photograph of theirs… and I would never ever take a photo of anyone eating or drinking or showing them doing anything they aren’t comfortable with. My only intention was to always show them in a good light.
But from not knowing anything about Bollywood films, you actually starred in one — Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! What was that experience like?
(Laughs) That was a total fluke! I stopped acting in Los Angeles in 2003 and picked up the camera to become a full-time photographer. It just happened by chance in the case of Dibakar’s (Banerjee) film… someone asked me to play the part (of deputy commissioner Wilkie) and I said ‘Okay’, but it was extremely tough! My Hindi allows me to just get around, but conversational Hindi was very difficult. Learning lines in a language you don’t know is tough… I got my lines at 5.30 in the morning and started shooting at 7! The acting out there was more like survival than anything else. After that, a few people have asked me to do some roles here and there, but my sole intention is doing photography in India.
Priyanka Roy
