A bright spark burns like an inferno engulfing everything in its path,
allowing the quiet but empowering genesis of a life. The spark is in Subi
Samuel's eye and the creation his idea. Like a curse it breeds in his mind
causing restlessness until it sees form in a manner close to its conception
culminating in a photograph which matches the image in his minds' eye close
to perfection.
We are at Subi Samuel's studio which has been transformed into the lair of
the Catwoman, who with a crack of a whip has everyone running around her
succumbing to her every desire. The stunning looking Shilpa Shetty is
practicing with a whip for her shoot in which her get up would inspire Tim
Burton to make a Catwoman film and put Michelle Pfeiffer to shame. Subi is
focused and his eye seems to be a shutter to the camera which is his world,
as with a sharp look he looks at his muse before letting rip with his
enigmatic image catcher.
"This is Shilpa's shoot, we're going for a different look," he informs me
casually in between all the chaos swirling around me.
His assistants scurry all over the studio, raising lights and shifting
backdrops all at the mental command of the ace photographer, as onlookers
watch in amazement as poetry unfold before their eyes. Writers beware:
inspiration overload. Subi is not a point and click man, his work is his
life and art, and with careful precision he steals moments from reality
immortalising them in his photographs to live on forever in the minds of
whoever is fortunate enough to see them.
"Nikhil!" he bellows as a reflector is not held at the right angle for his
model to be lit exactly how he wishes, and promptly his right hand boy gulps
and changes the angle. 'Genius at Work' is what the door should read, yet to
capture in words what magic Subi weaves would be to limit an art and so this
report will have to suffice.
Shilpa pouts her lips and pierces with her eyes as the camera screams with a
click and lights flash announcing a captured moment courtesy of the
beautiful Shetty who knows her job to the hilt, and magician Subi. Media
frenzy is a phrase which comes to mind with all the flashbulbs and clicks
taking place but this shoot is for a sensitive looking man who quietly
stands behind the action and watches his magazine covers being created,
occasionally nodding approvingly.
Designer Reza watches carefully as his black skin tight catsuit creation
envelopes Shilpa's body and is given life before his eyes, in between his
running forward and adding to the shoot. If one was to plant a thousand
seeds of imagination and leave them to grow the result would be Reza, whose
name is pronounced 'Razor' suited to his sharp eye for detail and amazing
creations which cut through the convention like a hot knife through
butter.
"She's looking mind-blowing," Subi says as he breathes a sigh of relief in
between the first costume change. "This is the look I wanted," he continues
flashing the trademark Subi-smile at me, with a sparkle in his eye.
Minutes pass and Shilpa casually walks out without the cat's hood and clicks
some close ups which look breathtaking in reality, one wonders how much they
can be bettered on paper.
Everyone watches in awe, their jaws on the ground as Shilpa stuns to the
extent that everyone's eyes are transfixed in a continuous gaze on her.
Clicks later, it's time for the next change, and Subi orders the new
backdrop to be put up and the lights changed. He attends to a few calls as
his eyes haphazardly reflect his random inspirations which we will witness
in the next few minutes.
I take this opportunity to corner Reza Shariffi, the man who has created and
designed the catsuit for Shilpa as well as many other creations here today,
and he happily talks of his work with as much passion as anyone who has an
infinite enthusiasm for his art.
"Shilpa's catsuit is for a fantasy sequence for a magazine and she wanted to
be a catwoman, which made me really happy because she is the perfect person
and has the perfect body to fit into a catsuit. It was very easy body-wise
to make the outfit for her because it fits her like a glove and is
body-hugging suit. You can see the results!" he says with a smile as we
prepare for her next entry which like a phaser, is set on sun.
Shilpa walks in wearing silver hot pants and a matching top, standing in
front of the grunge-green background. As Subi takes his place after
describing a pose - she breaks into a barrage of poses, each one pleasing Subi's
eye causing him to scream ecstatic praises her way in turn evoking more
striking poses surpassing the last.
My eyes scan the room as everyone is either running around preparing for the
next shot or staring at the photographer and the person he is capturing,
trying to understand how their world works and how they have co-ordinated a
perfect complementation. The final change occurs and a gold corset covers
Shilpa along with blue denims, with her hair flashing hoped gold earrings in
giggling snatches. Her smile commands attention and her beauty stands bold
as Subi's shutter slices through time, imprisoning nano-seconds onto rolls
of film.
She knows her job as does he, causing an unnerving anticipation for all of
us waiting to witness the first peep at his masterpieces and wondering how
dream pictures are painted through this killer combination.
Clicks fly and shutters slam before the final kill is made and the shoot is
canned close to how the master wishes it to be.
"Pack up," he casually announces, staring deep within my eyes searching for
a reaction to his shoot, before calling on his assistants to transform his
studio back to normal. An empty space with a bookshelf in one corner and
candles on the other, music dancing in the air and a wide open space where
moments ago timeless art was created. The sounds simmer to silence and the
bright bulbs fade to black as you realise what creations have just been
born. The following minutes are just enough to allow the world to return to
its usual rotation before he sets off again like a lit firecracker. Expect
the unexpected, forget all you know: You've just witnessed a shoot courtesy
of Subi Samuel.
Photographs: Subi Samuel
Outfit: Reza Shariffi
More pictures from this
Shilpa Shetty-Subi Samuel shoot will be available in the upcoming CineBlitz
anniversary issue. Asiangigs.com has no ties with this magazine and publishes
these pictures independent of the section in the aforementioned
magazine.
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