With him, it clicks

Manpriya Singh 

Sonam Kapoor’s wedding is not quite over. Not yet. The frenzy continues over her changed name to whether she’ll be shifting base and in the meanwhile, she’s just cut the surprise wedding cake at Cannes and returned to Mumbai. Mr Ahuja, too, is just getting used to having to explain everything, from his footwear to his new middle name (he is Anand S Ahuja on Instagram). 

As for the fans, they continue to savour every little detail that trickles in through various sources and curiously question whosever happened to be at the wedding. Like we do with Anand Rathi, the man behind all the images of the couple’s, which have broken the net in the past week! He credits the surreal bride and ‘very real family’ for all the splendid images. 

Meet the bride 

As for Sonam, he breaks whatever myths the followers might harbour. “She was the most non-interfering bride ever; cool, calm and zero tantrums.” Though the best part was the fact, “that she never forgot to smile, which goes on to show she was happy and beaming from inside.” He adds, “She always got ready before time and actually made it a point to spend time with her family.” 

Well, if the questions don’t end there, nor do the answers. “Think of them as one huge extended family who were having a blast and nobody discussed work. To actually be there, shattered all the starry images. They are as real as any other family. The wedding itself, Anand Karaj, made for a picturesquely delightful ceremony.” So be it Salman Khan suddenly appearing on to the stage and in his party mode or Sukhbir taking the entire arena by storm, everything is fresh and vivid in his memory. Not that there’s weren’t glitches, like they happen at every Indian wedding. “There were no negative glitches as such, but everything that didn’t go as per plan also elevated it to higher level.” 

Chandigarh weddings 

Nowhere do the true colours of any community come alive than 

at weddings.  

“I have done a couple of weddings in Chandigarh, including one of a prominent jeweller. Everywhere else a big wedding means 500 to 700 people, but in Chandigarh that’s the starting number for any big wedding.” Which is in stark contrast to Gujarati weddings, where punctuality is counted by the minute, or even Mumbai weddings that are prim and proper; but in Chandigarh, fun comes first and the guests have nowhere else to be. “If they are having a good time then the revelry continues till eternity; they let the next day’s schedules figure themselves out.”

Balance-sheets to megapixels

It’s hard to imagine that it’s been only five-and-a-half years since this self-taught artist professionally started operations after quitting his finance job. That was when Fearless Photographers was found, currently a team of 20 people, all in their twenties. “But when I first picked up the camera was when I was pursuing MBA in The States.” What started with pre-wedding couple shoots of his friends in America is a journey spanning all the continents and honours like Weddison Awards 2017, Tokyo International Foto Awards, amongst others.  Each day of photography and videography costs Rs 3 lakh upwards and they are open for bookings in February 2019. “You just have to tell me seven months in advance,” he signs off.  

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