A ‘storyteller’ of a photographer. A narrator of a presenter, producer and chef. Both lovers of cotton saris and all things Bengali. Both Bengalis, looking to tell new stories. A winsome combination. And, when Gourab Ganguli and Shrimoyee Chakraborty met at the latter’s Mumbai home recently, a sumptuous lunch, many memories, reels and splendid moments were made, which later floated into our inbox. A series of utterly serene photographs clicked by Gourab with Shrimoyee as the muse, in beautiful Anavila saris. The whites of the rajanigandha complementing the textured poetry of the sari or the red and blue of the second frame creating a warm drama. Shrimoyee paired both looks with her “sexier” blouses. Simple make-up enhanced the elegance.
Gourab Ganguli
“I am a big handloom person and you won’t find any blingy sari in my wardrobe. I like my typical cotton sari. Gourab understands and relates to that. But, I also like adding my sexier blouse to it,” Shrimoyee told t2. For Gourab, the looks captured her “globetrotter” persona. At 25, she had her restaurant Calcutta Street in London and last year made her debut as a TV presenter with her five-part docu-series India Bites, which revisited the Indian cities like Calcutta and Mumbai, places Shrimoyee had spent much of her years in, with a fresh perspective that was her own.
“I fell in love with her creativity and she is a beautiful girl. She reminds me of the Bengali archetype of what power women are like... witty, attentive, composed and she has a good appetite for everything that is the new-next. This is why it is easy for her to bring in new flavours to the world of entertainment and the way we see her, where she is like a TV producer. She tells you stories because she is interested in the new-next and at the same time, she is rooted in a culture where she and I bonded. I am interested in the handcrafted and she is building stories in the food world, which are culture stories and traditions,” said Gourab.
Over lunch, adda and photographs, the two also brainstormed a show, still at a nascent stage. “We are planning to build a show which is fashion related and because she loves fashion and dresses quite well, so she is putting her attention to fashion and this is where I come along. I have been in fashion for so many years, and we are trying to build a show around fashion in India. You can expect lots of cultural insights and travel. It is about telling stories through experiences that are cross-cultural and deeply rooted,” was all that Gourab could tell us at this stage.
They met through film editor Manas Mittal and got on like a “house on fire”. “There are a lot of amazing designers who are doing incredible work from South Asia, people who are doing different kinds of work, more young and upcoming... who are taking Indian craftsmanship to the Paris and Milan runway. So, we are looking at stories like that,” added Shrimoyee.
And, with Nava Varsha just gone by, Gourab felt it was a “great start”.
We say, all the best!
Creative direction and photography: Gourab Ganguli
Stylist: Ayeesha Ferreira
Saris: Anavila
HMU: Mahekk Mukaadam