Blessings Galore From Big B, Waheeda Rehman, Helen And Asha Parekh For Roopkumar Rathod For ‘Shooting’ Wild-Life-With A Camera

 Chaitanya Padukone

 It was an anokhee mehfil of  memorable, sentiments on Saturday evening for super-talented Bollywood celeb-tabla-maestro, ghazal and playback singer Roopkumar Rathod, when the three iconic legends of  Hindi cinema— Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh and Helen personally turned up to bless him for his impressive caliber in shooting wildlife and also for the launch of  his coffee-table photo-book perfectly titled Wild Voyage. The occasion was the opening preview of  Meraki, a group photography classic exhibition at Nine Fish Art Gallery in Byculla ( Mumbai) in the presence of photo-safari ‘guru’ Himanshuu Sheth ,Urvi Piramal, immensely talented young photographers Puja Shah and U.S,-based Natasha Sawhney ( grand-niece of Waheeda). Speaking exclusively to me, the modest Helen said that she would call both Waheeda-ji and Roopkumar as the “‘Chuppa Rustom-s’ with extraordinary hidden talents-- being behind the camera and making wild-life animals the silent stars”. Speaking to me, Waheeda-ji revealed that she always had a discreet fascination for photography. “But no one knew about my photo-clicking penchant, not even our legendary movie cameraman V.K.Murthy-saab. That’s because I would click mostly when were outdoors amidst nature. Shooting nature and wildlife would give me an ecstatic creative joy. Along with Roopkumar, we formed a small group and we would travel to various countries in East Africa like Tanzania and Kenya  and even to Indian forest sanctuaries like Tadoba and had a great-time clicking. Maybe  I may also have bring out my collections in the form of a coffee-table book, but nothing finalized as of now,” enthused eternal beauty Waheeda. Discloses Rathod, “Whenever I went for these ‘jungle-mein-mangal’ photo-shoot safaris, I had to request show organizers not to arrange my live concerts, during that period—such was and is my passion,”who along with his charming singer-actress daughter Reeva and talented singer wife Sunali personally attended to all the guests whom they had invited that evening including celebs Satish Shah with wife Madhu, singer Hariharan and film-maker Rakeysh O P Mehra  The crowning glory for Roopkumar’s coffee-table book is that the inspiring eloquent foreword is written by superstar Amitabh Bachchan . Among the other celeb guests spotted  were  Dr.Suhas Awchat with wife Deepa, Group CEO Rachita Laddha, CFO Tina Shah, and classical danseuse-corporate trainer Yagyaa Srivastava.

For more Bollywood updates, follow Bollyy!

Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News,  Big B, Waheeda Rehman, Helen And Asha Parekh, Roopkumar Rathod, ‘Shooting’ Wild-Life-With A Camera,Waheeda Rehman