This picture is special because it was one of the first few shoots that I did post the lockdown. Mr Amitabh Bachchan himself had just recovered from COVID-19. Amidst all of this, we did a shoot. After the shoot, I requested him to pose for my #PostPackUpShot. He obliged with this million-dollar expression. But just before I posted the image, he called me, and said he was wondering whether it was appropriate to post such a happy photo when there was so much sadness and gloom everywhere. I disagreed. I said a photo like this, and that too, of him, will only bring joy and hope to everyone that things are getting better. He took a pause, and in his inimitable way said, ‘Ok then, I leave it to you’.

This image of Sanju was shot on my first ever assignment in 1993, which was for the film, Aatish: Feel The Fire (1994). I was an assistant, and I had a fanboy moment when I met Sanju here for the first time. The picture is special as it also marked my entry into the film industry. We shot this on a fishing trip in Mauritius, for which Sanju woke us up at 5 am. I had a brand-new camera with me, and I was really scared to take it along, but Sanju ensured I got my camera along and said, ‘You will get the best shots of your life’. It turned out to be a launch pad for me once the hoardings of Aatish came up and this picture was published in magazines.

This shoot was beyond my wildest dreams. While clicking the pictures, my hands were trembling at the beginning. Messi was just a nonchalant guy – no airs, no tantrums, just professional. I have never used a tripod for a shoot, but for this one, I had to use it. He doesn’t speak English, so there was a translator, Jordi, who was helping us communicate. I happened to tell him that I am a massive Messi and Barcelona fan, and he insisted that I get a picture with Messi, but I was too shy to ask. After the shoot wrapped up, I went up to Messi and shook his hand and he walked away. Like a completely filmy moment, he came back and hugged me. That was my moment. After the shoot, I sat on the lawn and wept as I was overwhelmed.

Tara and I shot this picture in a studio, unplanned. It was a rainy day, and the sun came out briefly, so I told her let’s shoot some interesting images. The sun came out for literally five minutes, and we manipulated the shadows by using a couple of branches and leaves to create that sort of outdoor texture. We shot this in about two minutes, yet it turned out to be the best image clicked that day.

Celebrity photographer Rohan Shrestha released his photo series with footballer Lionel Messi after Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup 2022 trophy in Qatar. Shrestha, who is a huge Messi fan, recalls clicking him. “It was beyond my dreams, it was my fantasy,” says the 37-year-old. The first time Shrestha’s friend told him about a shoot with Messi, he “couldn’t even take it seriously ”. He recalls, “It was a month of sleepless nights. You are always worrying before because you always think about the worst-case scenario.”

Shrestha is the first Indian photographer to shoot Messi. The photographer says that the process of the shoot was planned so well that he even did a mock shoot with a model just a day before the main shoot with Messi happened. “Before he entered, I was very anxious. I had a double espresso, which did not help at all,” he quips, adding, “When Messi came, he wasn’t like he was a star. He was like a regular guy, so nonchalant about these (starry) things. But when he sat for my first shot, my hand was shaking. I don’t usually shoot with a tripod, but I put the camera on a tripod.”

Shrestha couldn’t speak to Messi directly, as the Argentinian footballer doesn’t speak in English. However, they shared a beautiful moment, which made Shrestha teary-eyed. “I was chatting with him with the help of a translator. But my communication was primarily around the direction of the shots. And at the end of the shoot, I just happened to tell him that I am a massive fan. I told him that I have watched him in the stadium since 2006... I didn’t know how to ask for a picture with him because I am very introverted,” recalls the lensman.

He goes on, “I think the translator happened to tell Messi the entire story [about my love for him] and when I finished the shoot, Messi shook my hand and walked away. Then, he came back and hugged me. That was my moment, that was my life, that was my everything. Then I went outside and I wept. I was like, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ Such moments are not in your control. If anyone ever asked me in 2009, ‘Who would you like to shoot?’ I would have said, Messi. It was always Messi.”