Deconstructing the grammar behind glamour shoots
HYDERABAD: While most guys his age dread the mid-week blues, Sid Naidu spends his afternoon with Brazilian actress Bruna Abdullah in Mumbai. His weekend is mostly at a beach destination with a bevy of beauties. Mondays, are, of course, days he is going to slay as it would be about working with a new set of models, new shoots and new concepts. Says Sid, 27, a Telugu boy now settled in Bengaluru, but travels pan India, “Fashion is synonymous with glamour and all things/people beautiful. Indeed it is, when we get to work with models and technicians who are equally passionate about it.
But it also demands a lot of co-ordination and getting everyone into the right mood and sometimes tackling weather conditions too. It takes about 25 people for any fashion photo shoot, including the pre and post production. And when it’s a full-fledged commercial, it takes a lot more than just that,” he explains.A post in his social media account sums up his work best: “Throwback Tuesday. When I directed the video shoot for flying machine and US Polo! About handling 20 models on set? That was fun!” Or the one where he says on Instagram where he has over 16,000 followers, “5 days madness comes to an end.
A team of young, vibrant, enthusiastic and talented people who put together the new shoot for Myntra’s new #weddingstore in #nammabengaluru. I see sheer brilliance everywhere. Giving a glimpse into the kind of crew it needs, he says, “For example, for a Zivame Moroccan Lace Campaign in the video format, we have a photographer (Foto Siddharth Nath), director (Rupambika Khandai), brand manager (Priyanka Arora Katyal), stylist (Jayati Singh) then a producer (Chandini Subbaiah) and then set design and the final packaging by Sid Productions. It is a team work, almost like a movie or a television show and at the end of the day, hard work alone matters,” he says.
As a fashion producer, his job involves getting a brief from his client, conceptualising with his team, getting stylists, makeup artists, choreographers, photographers and brand managers on board and producing the final video or photo shoot. His most memorable one was a fashion shoot for ace designers Shantanu & Nikhil which was featured in the July 2017 issue of Vogue Magazine. A recent shoot titled Padma was a collaboration of six images that gives us a glimpse of a village girl living in Bengaluru in 90s. When such unusual briefs come, he is at his creative best.
So is the fashion scene in Hyderabad on par with Bengaluru or Mumbai? “I know of a few big e-commerce brands that are based in Hyderabad and in a few years should be competing at the same level as Bengaluru and Mumbai. In fact, I am already planning to open a branch in the city to cater to this market,” he adds. He was in the city for the StartupNation event for a shoot in January.
Sid says he is among the youngest fashion producers in India. A college dropout, he joined a production house in Bengaluru seven years ago and has climbed the career ladder, one step a time. “After my Class X, I started work. I’ve been a fan of fashion and films since the time I can remember. That passion has driven me to do what I do, today,” he says, while adding that he finds how Indian parents, especially in South India, think that modelling is an exploitative world. “I agree that there are few rotten apples who are reckless with young and ambitious girls, but I can assure you that the industry is largely professional.”
“I have worked with more than 100 international supermodels and also with Indian supermodels like Varthika Singh, Jantee Hazarika, Parvathy Nair, Sushruthi etc.” Seeing a dearth of professional models, he now dabbles in model grooming too and works with the likes of leading fashion photographer Colston Julian, celebrity stylist Ami Patel and supermodel Carla Ruth Denis.
Although his posts are often about glamorous models and their work, he feels that posting videos of the work that goes into a shoot will actually help people understand that is a creative craft, not some sleazy job. “I also want to reach out to people through the models I work with and the agencies we co-ordinate with to tell the world that the fashion industry is a great place to work. I am still not sure of the way it will turn out, but perhaps letting more people talk about their own experiences through selfies and selfie videos endorsing the good work environment is a good place to start with. Perhaps, 2018 will pave way to some activism like this,” he signs off.
kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
@mkalanidhi