Mumbai, June 6 (IANS) Actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt has talked about her association with celebrity photographer Dabboo Ratnani, saying she enjoyed posing for his camera more than working on many of the films she was shooting at the time.

Pooja shared a chunk of her podcast on Instagram, where she was in conversation with Dabboo. She captioned it: “Fair to say that @dabbooratnani did far more than take my pictures… He photographed my soul! From holding hands under the Christmas tree in Babyland nursery..”

“To the Iconic images we created together decades later.. to being in conversation with me on @thepoojabhattshow .. All I have is gratitude.. for the unwavering friendship,faith,trust and the occasional SHUTTTT UPPPP. Thank you so much Dabboo.. look forward to being in front of your lens soon. Time to create some more magic”

In the podcast, Pooja spoke about how the photoshoots offered a rare space for artistic expression and freedom, making them some of her most memorable professional experiences.

She said: “Dabboo, it’ll be fair to say, I had more fun shooting photographs with you than shooting most of the films I was doing at that time because there we could really express ourselves creatively.”

The celebrated photographer replied: “Both of us learned a lot from each other. For me, it was a big learning experience to shoot with you and learn so much in terms of styling with Anna, you, makeup, hair, how each wig was made.”

“I was very new, I just left… and I had started on my own. So for me to travel with y’all to Simla,to Ooty, a lot of detail was learned and that I incorporated in the future shoots, in my portfolio shoots with the other actors. And when those pictures came out, there was no stopping.”

“There was no stopping us. The calls kept coming, we want to shoot like Pooja. Saif till now says that you shoot me like how you shot Pooja Bhatt.”

Talking about Pooja, she had her first leading role in the television film Daddy in 1989.

Her breakthrough came with the romance comedy Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin in 1991, which also emerged as her highest-grossing release.

In the next decade, she earned critical acclaim for her performances in the films Sadak, Junoon, Naaraaz, Angrakshak, Chaahat, Tamanna, Border, Kabhi Na Kabhi, Angaaray and Zakhm. This was followed by a hiatus and intermittent work.

She was recently seen on screen in Chup: Revenge of the Artist directed by R. Balki. The film stars Sunny Deol, Dulquer Salmaan and Shreya Dhanwanthary. Set in Mumbai, the film focuses on a serial killer targeting corrupt film critics and a police officer assigned to catch the killer.

Pooja was also seen as a contestant in the controversial reality show “Bigg Boss OTT 2,” where Elvish Yadav emerged as the winner and Abhishek Malhan was the runner-up.

–IANS

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